QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

87 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 87 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, at 10:50 pm AST on 1 April 2020 (02:50 UTC), 23 km deep.

· 23 km deep · released about 1.8 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 88 kmManatí Municipio 91 kmArecibo Municipio 92 kmVega Baja Municipio 92 kmHatillo Municipio 93 kmQuebradillas Municipio 94 kmCamuy Municipio 94 kmDorado Municipio 94 kmIsabela Municipio 96 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 3.4 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 88 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2335 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 52 km (32 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 1.8 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 92,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.8× 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 since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 31 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 33 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 10 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 12 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 57 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 43 km SW 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 19.2563, -66.6133. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 88 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) S earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 93 km (58 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 94 km (58 mi) SSW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 49 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 66 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 69 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 63 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 63 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 77 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 82 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 63 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 54 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 75 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 77 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 79 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 59 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 76 km N of Brenas, 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.