QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

83 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 83 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico, at 4:37 pm AST on 22 December 2019 (20:37 UTC), 22 km deep.

· 22 km deep · released about 830 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 81 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 86 kmLajas Municipio 94 kmGuánica Municipio 101 kmHormigueros Municipio 102 kmSan Germán Municipio 105 kmSabana Grande Municipio 110 kmRincón Municipio 115 kmGuayanilla Municipio 116 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 3.0 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 81 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2441 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 27 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 830 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.3838, -67.6743. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 81 km (50 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 86 km (53 mi) NE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 94 km (59 mi) NE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 101 km (63 mi) NE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 102 km (64 mi) NE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 105 km (65 mi) NE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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. 2.9 61 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 94 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.6 96 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  4. 4.3 102 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 90 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 95 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 83 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 90 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 89 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 48 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 120 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 56 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 58 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 103 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.9 98 km SW of Pole Ojea, 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.