QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3Md

87 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 87 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico, at 7:15 pm AST on 24 September 2016 (23:15 UTC), 21 km deep.

· 21 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 83 kmLuquillo Municipio 89 kmCulebra Municipio 89 kmRío Grande Municipio 91 kmLoíza Municipio 92 kmCarolina Municipio 98 kmCeiba Municipio 98 kmCanóvanas Municipio 100 kmSan Juan Municipio 103 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (Md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 83 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3700 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-09-04 — about 1,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 109 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 15 km SSW 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 19.1201, -65.4294. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) S earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 73 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.3 51 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 108 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 67 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 2.8 109 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 72 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 59 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 75 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 57 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.5 114 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 134 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 67 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.5 124 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.7 116 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.