QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Bajandas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bajandas in the 24 hours to 9:51 pm AST (01:51 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 52 km (32 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 Bajandas

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Bajandas, PR, at 10:46 pm AST on 28 July 2018 (02:46 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SW of Bajandas, Puerto Rico

41 km (25 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

10:46 pm AST, Jul 28, 2018 · · 22 km deep · released about 72 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 2 kmLas Piedras Municipio 9 kmNaguabo Municipio 10 kmYabucoa Municipio 11 kmJuncos Municipio 15 kmMaunabo Municipio 19 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 19 kmCeiba Municipio 23 kmCanóvanas 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
10:46 pm AST on 28 July 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) southwest of Bajandas, PR · earthquakes near Bajandas
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
22 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 2955 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bajandas, 3 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Humacao, Antón Ruiz, Candelero Arriba, Punta Santiago, La Fermina, Comunas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 72 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 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 3,300 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 · 38 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 18.1400, -65.7998. 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 9 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 2 km SE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 22 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 3 km NNW of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 14 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 2 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 4 km WNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 2 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 5 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 2 km SSW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 7 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 18 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 17 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 21 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 6 km NW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 4 km NNE of Bairoa, 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.