Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0md
28 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 28 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 5:07 pm AST on 3 September 2026 (21:07 UTC), 14 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Culebra Municipio, 43 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 69 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 34 km (21 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 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 500 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 · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 24 km E 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 18.0925, -64.9845. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 43 km (27 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 47 km (30 mi) | W | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 70 km (43 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 72 km (45 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Naguabo Municipio, PR | 80 km (50 mi) | W | earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio |
| Luquillo Municipio, PR | 83 km (51 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
12 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 20 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.7 20 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.9 22 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 23 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.5 10 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 16 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 4.1 21 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 24 km ESE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 40 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 8 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 16 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.4 9 km SE 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.