QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

56 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 56 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 8:43 pm AST on 16 July 2022 (00:43 UTC), 11 km deep.

· 11 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 91 kmRincón Municipio 100 kmAguadilla Municipio 100 kmAguada Municipio 103 kmMoca Municipio 112 kmIsabela Municipio 112 kmAñasco Municipio 113 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 2.9 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 91 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1506 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 30 km (19 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 in our catalogue was M 4.6 on 2020-01-29 — about 350 times the energy of this one.

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 18.9008, -67.9868. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 100 km (62 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 100 km (62 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 103 km (64 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 72 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.3 Mona Passage
  3. 3.5 74 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 53 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.4 Dominican Republic region
  6. 3.8 Dominican Republic region
  7. 3.9 27 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.8 38 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.5 91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.8 75 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.7 97 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.9 79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 4.4 98 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.6 79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.7 Mona Passage

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.