Earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR

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 Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 20 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Sabana, La Luisa, Brenas, Vega Baja, Barceloneta, Coto Norte.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 15 km SW of this epicentre Oct 12, 1918
2. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre Jul 14, 1964
3. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre Mar 12, 2009
4. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 19 km SE of this epicentre Jun 17, 1975

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 18.6406, -66.4478. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 2.3 55 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico 07:19 UTC
2. 2.6 45 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico 04:21 UTC
3. 2.6 10 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico 02:12 UTC
4. 2.2 5 km N of Camuy, Puerto Rico 20:21 UTC
5. 1.9 37 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:45 UTC
6. 2.1 69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico 14:43 UTC
7. 2.1 9 km NNW of Levittown, Puerto Rico 04:23 UTC
8. 2.1 19 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico 20:25 UTC
9. 2.3 10 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico 01:10 UTC
10. 2.4 49 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 05:42 UTC
11. 2.1 Puerto Rico region 02:53 UTC
12. 2.0 9 km NW of Camuy, Puerto Rico 07:57 UTC
13. 1.9 16 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico 02:19 UTC
14. 2.0 17 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico 20:35 UTC
15. 1.6 11 km NNE of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 08:27 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:49 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

• The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
• Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
• ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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