QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.8ml

58 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico

· 23 km deep · released about 240 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 57 kmFajardo Municipio 59 kmLuquillo Municipio 68 kmCeiba Municipio 73 kmRío Grande Municipio 74 kmVieques Municipio 80 kmLoíza Municipio 81 kmNaguabo Municipio 84 kmCanóvanas Municipio 84 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 4.8 (ml)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
240 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 57 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1955 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 240 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 710× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.8 about 240 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 500× 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.

Where

Epicentre 18.8346, -65.2920. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Culebra Municipio, PR 57 km (35 mi) N of here earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 73 km (46 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) N of here earthquakes near Vieques Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 45 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.7 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.5 Virgin Islands
  4. 3.5 71 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.4 54 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 70 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.5 96 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.7 72 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.7 85 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.7 90 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.5 78 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 99 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.5 87 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.7 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.6 101 km N 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2020-11-18.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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