QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

80 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 80 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico, at 5:19 am AST on 16 January 2018 (09:19 UTC), 126 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 126 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 27 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 81 kmRincón Municipio 91 kmHormigueros Municipio 92 kmLajas Municipio 95 kmAñasco Municipio 98 kmAguada Municipio 98 kmSan Germán Municipio 99 kmGuánica Municipio 107 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 3.0 (md)
Depth
126 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 27 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3138 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. 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 920 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 6.7 370,000× 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 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 2017-07-18 — about 92 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.8410, -67.9286. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) N earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 81 km (50 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 91 km (56 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 53 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 62 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 59 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.6 60 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.0 61 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  6. 4.0 62 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.9 64 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 65 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.2 66 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.8 69 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 51 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.7 39 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 60 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.6 58 km SSE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.8 37 km W of Puerto Real, 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.