QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Palo Seco, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Palo Seco in the 24 hours to 4:28 pm AST (20:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 13 km (8 mi) ESE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Palo Seco

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Palo Seco, PR, at 1:16 pm AST on 24 January 2018 (17:16 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SSE of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico

50 km (31 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 31 km (19 mi) SSE of Caguas, PR

1:16 pm AST, Jan 24, 2018 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palo Seco Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 5 kmPatillas Municipio 7 kmArroyo Municipio 12 kmYabucoa Municipio 12 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 20 kmGuayama Municipio 22 kmHumacao Municipio 24 kmLas Piedras Municipio 25 kmCayey Municipio 28 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
1:16 pm AST on 24 January 2018 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Palo Seco, PR · earthquakes near Palo Seco
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 5 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3213 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Palo Seco, 4 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: Emajagua 6 km, intensity III · Guayama 20 km, intensity II · Jagual 22 km, intensity II · Humacao 23 km, intensity II · Cayey 30 km, intensity II · Caguas 32 km, intensity II · Sumidero 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.2× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 39 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 17.9711, -65.9291. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Guayama Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 2 km E of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 4 km ESE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 2 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 4 km SSE of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 4 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.5 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 1 km NNE of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 0 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 1 km NNE of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 6 km SSW of Lamboglia, 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.