Punta Cana

Earthquakes near Punta Cana through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 11 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Punta Cana, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 5 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8 on August 4, 1946 (16 km NNW of Miches, Dominican Republic).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Punta Cana in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.8 on September 27 (8 km WSW of Guaymate, Dominican Republic).

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What the record holds

It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 1,790 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 7 here, back to 1916. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 2,009 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 4.4 on November 1, 1989 (Mona Passage). NOAA’s record here begins on April 24, 1916 with an earthquake (26 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic). 3 of the 7 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Punta Cana, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 4 m, on October 11, 1918.

The events

  • November 1, 1989Earthquake · M 4.4Mona PassageNOAA NCEI
  • August 4, 1946Earthquake · M 7.816 km NNW of Miches, Dominican Republic · 1,790 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • July 29, 1943Earthquake · M 7.745 km N of San Antonio, Puerto RicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 11, 1918Tsunami · 4 m hereMona PassageNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 24, 1916Earthquake · M 6.826 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican RepublicUSGS · NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Punta Cana when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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