QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near Cayey, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cayey in the 24 hours to 9:53 pm AST (01:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 38 km (24 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cayey

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Cayey, PR, at 3:32 pm AST on 24 March 2019 (19:32 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico

38 km (24 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 22 km (13 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

3:32 pm AST, Mar 24, 2019 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cayey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 4 kmGuayama Municipio 11 kmCidra Municipio 11 kmAibonito Municipio 13 kmSalinas Municipio 16 kmArroyo Municipio 16 kmComerío Municipio 18 kmCaguas Municipio 19 kmPatillas Municipio 19 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
3:32 pm AST on 24 March 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Cayey, PR · earthquakes near Cayey
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 4 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2789 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Cayey, 5 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: Cayey 5 km, intensity II · Guayama 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 4,000 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 · 21 km N 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 18.0716, -66.1536. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) N earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km SSE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  2. 4.1 5 km SSE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 1 km NNE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 5 km S of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 6 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 8 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 9 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 1 km WSW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 2 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 5 km NW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 0 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 2 km S of Barahona, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 5 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 1 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 5 km SSE of Arroyo, 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.