QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8Md

Earthquake near Caban, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Caban in the 24 hours to 6:01 pm AST (22:01 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 5 km (3 mi) SSE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Caban

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Caban, PR, at 1:37 am AST on 22 September 2016 (05:37 UTC), 86 km deep.

USGS: 9 km NW of Caban, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 120 km (74 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:37 am AST, Sep 22, 2016 · · 86 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Caban Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 6 kmAguada Municipio 15 kmMoca Municipio 19 kmIsabela Municipio 19 kmRincón Municipio 20 kmAñasco Municipio 26 kmQuebradillas Municipio 29 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 31 kmCamuy Municipio 36 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
1:37 am AST on 22 September 2016 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) northwest of Caban, PR · earthquakes near Caban
Magnitude
M 2.8 (Md)
Depth
86 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 6 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3621 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Caban, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Aguadilla, Rafael Hernandez, Aguada, Moca, Aceitunas, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 21 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 8 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 6 km NW of this epicentre

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 18.5095, -67.1950. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SSE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 34 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 Mona Passage
  3. 2.3 15 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 23 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 48 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 7 km W of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 4 km W of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 7 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 4 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 14 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 2 km NNW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 Mona Passage
  14. 1.6 2 km SSW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 36 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

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.