Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1md
7 km S of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 7 km S of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 6:33 pm AST on 19 March 2026 (22:33 UTC), 36 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (md)
- Depth
- 36 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Vieques Municipio, 90 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 237 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Esperanza, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Esperanza, PR. No account or email needed.
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 20 km (12 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 1,300 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
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 · 29 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 46 km N 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 17.6600, -64.7350. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 90 km (56 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 96 km (59 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 115 km (71 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 121 km (75 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Naguabo Municipio, PR | 122 km (76 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio |
| Humacao Municipio, PR | 123 km (77 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Humacao Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
4 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 23 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.6 33 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 30 km SSE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 18 km NW of Saint Croix, 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.