QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

70 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 70 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 6:06 pm AST on 9 September 2023 (22:06 UTC), 21 km deep.

· 21 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

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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 2.6 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 137 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1090 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 11 km (7 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.7 on 2018-12-07 — about 1,300 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 19.1923, -68.2119. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 137 km (85 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 139 km (86 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 141 km (88 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 150 km (93 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 152 km (94 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 165 km (102 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 4.0 34 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.7 22 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 63 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.9 32 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.9 43 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 4.0 89 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.8 104 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.7 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.6 46 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.3 66 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.4 85 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.4 79 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.9 84 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.4 71 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.5 54 km NE of Miches, Dominican Republic

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.