QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.8mb

53 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico

· 42 km deep · released about 240 tons of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 53 kmVega Baja Municipio 55 kmToa Baja Municipio 56 kmVega Alta Municipio 57 kmCataño Municipio 58 kmManatí Municipio 59 kmBarceloneta Municipio 59 kmSan Juan Municipio 64 kmToa Alta Municipio 65 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 4.8 (mb)
Depth
42 km below the surface
Felt
65 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 53 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1512 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 65 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 710× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.8 about 240 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 500× 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.

Where

Epicentre 18.9466, -66.3118. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Dorado Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) N of here earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) N of here earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 57 km (35 mi) N of here earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Manatí Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 41 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 48 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 26 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 57 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 5 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 72 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 59 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 88 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 58 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 10 km NNW of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 4 km NE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 12 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 68 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 74 km N of San Juan, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2017-03-24.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.