QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

22 km NNE of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 22 km NNE of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 12:09 am AST on 28 January 2026 (04:09 UTC), 11 km deep.

· 11 km deep · released about 320 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 87 kmVieques Municipio 91 kmCeiba Municipio 114 kmFajardo Municipio 116 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 2.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 87 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 287 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 22 km (14 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 320 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 34,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 320 lb of TNT

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 4.4 on 2022-09-03 — about 420 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 22 km NNE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands · 5 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 23 km NW 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 17.9247, -64.5997. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) WNW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 91 km (56 mi) WNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 114 km (71 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 127 km (79 mi) WNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 23 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.1 39 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.4 9 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.0 28 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 2.5 20 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.2 27 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.0 23 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.6 14 km SSE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.1 20 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.0 48 km ENE of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.3 22 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.9 24 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.6 33 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.7 60 km ENE of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.1 52 km ESE of Cruz Bay, 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.