QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

93 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 93 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico, 100 km (62 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR, at 8:42 pm AST on 26 March 2018 (00:42 UTC), 35 km deep.

100 km (62 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR

· 35 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 93 kmCataño Municipio 98 kmSan Juan Municipio 98 kmToa Baja Municipio 98 kmCarolina Municipio 99 kmDorado Municipio 100 kmRío Grande Municipio 100 kmLuquillo Municipio 102 kmFajardo Municipio 103 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 3.2 (md)
Depth
35 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 93 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3064 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 28 km (17 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 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.8× 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 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 13 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 48 km SE 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 19.2783, -65.8445. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 99 km (61 mi) S earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 100 km (62 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 74 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 70 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 88 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 88 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 121 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 84 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 80 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 77 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 50 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 107 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 108 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 103 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 108 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 78 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.

On USGS

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