QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0Md

Earthquake near Pájaros, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pájaros in the 24 hours to 7:53 pm AST (23:53 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 91 km (56 mi) WSW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pájaros

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Pájaros, PR, at 9:25 pm AST on 16 October 2016 (01:25 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico

5 km (3 mi) SSW of Bayamón, PR

9:25 pm AST, Oct 16, 2016 · · 16 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pájaros Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Bayamón Municipio 2 kmGuaynabo Municipio 7 kmToa Alta Municipio 8 kmNaranjito Municipio 10 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 10 kmCataño Municipio 12 kmComerío Municipio 13 kmToa Baja Municipio 13 kmSan Juan Municipio 15 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
9:25 pm AST on 16 October 2016 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southeast of Pájaros, PR · earthquakes near Pájaros
Magnitude
M 3.0 (Md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Bayamón Municipio, 2 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3588 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Pájaros, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Bayamón 7 km, intensity III · Guaynabo 7 km, intensity III · Levittown 13 km, intensity II · Cataño 13 km, intensity II · Sumidero 14 km, intensity II · Corozal 15 km, intensity II · San Juan 16 km, intensity II · Dorado 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 10 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 25 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 18.3372, -66.1784. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Bayamón Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) NE earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km ESE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 6 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 7 km SW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 25 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 16 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 4 km SSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 2 km S of La Alianza, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 20 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 3 km NE of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 1 km S of Campanilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 1 km SE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 1 km WSW of Río Blanco, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 1 km NE of Río Blanco, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 1 km N of Antón Ruiz, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 5 km N of Suárez, 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.