QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Humacao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Humacao in the 24 hours to 8:31 pm AST (00:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 56 km (35 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Humacao

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Humacao, PR, at 6:54 am AST on 13 March 2018 (10:54 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ESE of Humacao, Puerto Rico

40 km (25 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 27 km (16 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

6:54 am AST, Mar 13, 2018 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 2 kmLas Piedras Municipio 8 kmNaguabo Municipio 11 kmYabucoa Municipio 11 kmJuncos Municipio 14 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 18 kmMaunabo Municipio 18 kmCanóvanas Municipio 23 kmCeiba Municipio 23 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
6:54 am AST on 13 March 2018 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Humacao, PR · earthquakes near Humacao
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 2 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3165 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Humacao, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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: Humacao 2 km, intensity II · Emajagua 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 2,600 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 · 37 km WNW 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 18.1421, -65.8065. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) ESE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 1 km SSW of Santa Barbara, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 7 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 7 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 5 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 3 km N of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 6 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 6 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 5 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 2 km E of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 5 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 4 km ESE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 2 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 4 km SSE of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 4 km S of Palmas, 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.