QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3Md

112 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 112 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico, at 6:31 pm AST on 12 April 2017 (22:31 UTC), 46 km deep.

· 46 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 112 kmSan Juan Municipio 118 kmCataño Municipio 118 kmCarolina Municipio 118 kmToa Baja Municipio 118 kmRío Grande Municipio 119 kmFajardo Municipio 119 kmDorado Municipio 120 kmLuquillo Municipio 120 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 3.3 (Md)
Depth
46 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 112 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3416 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. 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 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× more

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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 48 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 21 km SSE 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 19.4435, -65.7699. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 118 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 118 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 118 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 118 km (74 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) S earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 112 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 108 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 102 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 130 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  6. 3.1 115 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 90 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 75 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 104 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 114 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 86 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 102 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 78 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 78 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 77 km NNE of Vieques, 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.