QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, at 5:26 pm AST on 14 October 2019 (21:26 UTC), 44 km deep.

· 44 km deep · released about 2.2 tons of TNT

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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 3.4 (md)
Depth
44 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 124 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2510 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 41 km (25 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 2.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 78,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.6× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.9 on 2018-11-14 — about 150 times the energy of this one.

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 19.4221, -65.1461. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 124 km (77 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 131 km (82 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 135 km (84 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 137 km (85 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 143 km (89 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 148 km (92 mi) SW earthquakes near San Juan 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. 3.2 105 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.2 104 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.4 74 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.6 Virgin Islands
  5. 3.7 113 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 4.4 89 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 123 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 113 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.6 127 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.6 151 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.7 143 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.4 95 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 126 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.4 127 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 106 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.