Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2md
34 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 34 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 3:45 am AST on 8 March 2026 (07:45 UTC), 4.0 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (md)
- Depth
- 4.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Culebra Municipio, 83 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 248 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Culebra, PR
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 48 km (30 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 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1.1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.3× 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 5.3 on 2020-10-07 — about 1,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 22 km NNE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands · 26 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 22 km WSW 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 18.1215, -64.5563. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 83 km (51 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 93 km (58 mi) | W | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 113 km (70 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 113 km (70 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 23 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 39 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.9 61 km E of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.3 66 km E of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.4 9 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.2 54 km ENE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.4 38 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.0 28 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.9 9 km NE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.4 9 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 29 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.0 3 km NE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.5 20 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.2 27 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.7 17 km N 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.