Virgin Islanders got an early wake up call on Sunday morning, June 3, in the form of a magnitude 4.0 earthquake.
The quake, which occurred at 8:28 a.m. on June 3, was centered about 18 miles south-southeast of Charlotte Amalie — at 18.138 north and 64.853 west — nearly 4.2 miles below the ocean’s surface, according to the Puerto Rico Seismic Network.
The eighth earthquake recorded in June by the network, the 4.0 tremor which occurred on the Virgin Islands Platform instead of the deep Puerto Rico trench, was the most intense seismic activity so far this month.
The shake was felt across the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with Trujillo Alto in Puerto Rico reporting the maximum intensity of the quake with a 3.0 (III), according to the seismic network.
“It was loud and my son told me it shook him off of the couch,” said one resident who felt the temblor. “It sounded like a truck and then a train with really low rumblings. We could feel the trembling in bed.”
No damage had been reported, and none was expected considering the size and location of the earthquake, according to the
Puerto Rico Seismic Network
The magnitude of the quake was measured on the Richter Scale, which runs from 1 through 9, with a four defined as “often felt, but rarely causes damage,”
The intensity of the tremor was measured in the Modified Mercalli Scale, which is listed in Roman Numerals from I to XII, with a III defined as “many people indoors feel movement, hanging objects swing back and forth, people outdoors might not realize that an earthquake is occurring.”