QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

16 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 16 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 9:42 pm AST on 26 December 2024 (01:42 UTC), 8.3 km deep.

· 8.3 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 33 kmVieques Municipio 45 kmFajardo Municipio 63 kmCeiba Municipio 64 kmLuquillo Municipio 75 kmNaguabo Municipio 76 kmHumacao Municipio 82 kmRío Grande Municipio 84 kmLas Piedras Municipio 90 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 33 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 685 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Culebra 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 350 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 32 km ESE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 18.2173, -65.0195. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) WNW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) WSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) W earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 75 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) W earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.0 6 km WSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.1 17 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 11 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 35 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.7 11 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.4 23 km NW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.1 18 km NW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.4 30 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.1 21 km NE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 22 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.1 28 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.8 41 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 23 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.9 34 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.9 8 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.