Shallow earthquake in the southern part of the Dominican Republic - 1 person killed, 3 schools, 3 hospitals and more than 10 houses damaged

Earthquake overview : Moderate earthquake with epicenter in the southern part of the island. The earthquake has been felt all over the island (including in Haiti)
"I have Felt it" Reports --> see below + Let us know "how you have felt this earthquake"
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

Update 08/01
- A man died Thursday of a heart attack because of the fear caused the the earthquake. The dead man is Max Ramirez Rodriguez, 47, who according to relatives, at the time of the quake was sitting in bed watching TV. The shock killed him.
- In the southwest, three schools, three hospitals and more than 10 houses were damaged to varying degrees.

06:02:40 PM at epicenter
M 4.6 2012/01/05 22:02 Depth 60.7 km DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Moderate aftershock
65 km (40 miles) W of SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
Satellite map of the greater epicenter area

16:47 UTC : At 11:00 AM local time, the local seismological agency had already registered 15 aftershocks

11:28 UTC : The Dominican Republic Civil Defense has alerted all of his services minutes after the quake occurred but at the time of writing this update, NO damage or injuries have been reported. Authorities in the direct epicenter area are currently inspecting buildings and public works to assess the situation.

11:04 UTC - Rock slides have been reported along the road from Azua to San Juan. Drivers are warned to be careful in driving this road.

11:02 UTC - The epicenter has been located 17 km South-East of Ocoa. Following the local media who are referring the the Dominican seismological agency UASD, the depth of the hypocenter was at 33 km and the magnitude was measures as 5.2. Both USGS and EMSC have reported a magnitude of 5.3 at a depth of 10 km. 33 km or 10 km makes a world of difference towards damaging capability.

- As early stated in this report, the earthquake has been felt almost all over the country but will have been felt also in neighboring Haiti !

- A lot of people are downloading our QuakeSOS iPhone application, but so far people are only testing and sending SAFE alerts.

- reports from the Dominican Republic are talking about people leaving their houses in panic (normal with such a magnitude)

- Maximum recorded (reported) MMI seems to be V = moderate shaking. Moderate shaking damage can be cracks in walls at max., but we will have to wait for a few more hours to be certain that no additional damage has been inflicted.

- The area has a lot of hills (see image)

- Closest villages to the epicenter (errors are possible within a radius of 16 km) : La Palma, Calderon, Hatillo, Agua, Galeon and Bani

- EMSC reports the same values than USGS (5.3 @ 10 km)

- The earthquake occurred during the early morning hours 05:35 AM !, when almost everybody was still sleeping

- the shallow hypocenter (focal depth) makes this earthquake moderately dangerous within a radius of 20 km.

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"I Have Felt It" reports as received by Earthquake-Report.com
???? : Se movió la puerta, las ventanas y la cama y fue mas o menos a las 5:34 AM
???? : yo, estaba acostada, eran las 5 y 37 de la mañana y yo sentí que se movió la cama era como si me estuvieran meneando la cama y yo me sentí en ese momento pues alterada,aterrada,confundida,sola,y triste fue horrible y terrible y no sabia que hacer.
Santo Domingo, Los Alcarrizos : yo cuando centi que yo estaba en la cama yo pensaba que alguien estaba moviendo mi casa mire yo tuve un susto terrible
"I Have Felt It" reports as received by EMSC
50 km from the epicenter : Wake up very scared
Santo Domingo : Hubo un estruendo considerable en el edificio.
Santo Domingo : Strong Shaking, with No sound, Not too long in duration but very strong lateral movement
Santo Domingo : I wake up very scared from a 6 floor near the sea.
45 km from epicenter : It was felt hard, like something hit the house but I realized it was a earthquake and it woke my wife out here sleep.
Santo Domingo : lived in SoCal 70 years. This was typical of many. not severe, but strong and frightening on top of a tower.
Santo Domingo : SEEMED TO ME AS IF IT LASTED ABOUT 8 TO 10 SECONDS
Santo Domingo : described as 5.3, tsunami alert for coastline, lifted about half an hour later, by the seismological institute in Miami, Fl. USA
Santo Domingo : El movimiento telurico se sintio fuerte en toda la ciudad de santo Domingo. Las personas residentes en edificios altos abandonaron los mismos en espera de replicas q no ocurrieron. Hasta el momento no se han rrportado derrumbes ni muertes por el sismo

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Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.3
UTC Time : Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 09:35:29 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 05:35:29 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
17 km (10 miles) SSE (149°) from Ocoa, Peravia, Dominican Republic
33 km (20 miles) W (270°) from San Cristóbal, San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
50 km (31 miles) W (260°) from SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map showing the epicenter and the surrounding area
Historic earthquakes map
Seismic hazard map
QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news. The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

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I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται –Yo lo he sentido – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

A man died Thursday of a heart attack because of the fear caused the the earthquake. The dead man is Max Ramirez Rodriguez, 47, who according to relatives, at the time of the quake was sitting in bed watching TV. The shock killed him.