QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

70 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 70 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico, at 4:17 pm AST on 9 October 2021 (20:17 UTC), 24 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 24 km deep · released about 1.2 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 69 kmFajardo Municipio 70 kmLuquillo Municipio 78 kmRío Grande Municipio 83 kmCeiba Municipio 85 kmLoíza Municipio 89 kmVieques Municipio 92 kmCanóvanas Municipio 93 kmNaguabo Municipio 94 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 3.3 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 69 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1859 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 44 km (27 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 1.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.5× 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 2021-03-09 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 24 km WNW 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 18.9431, -65.2806. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) S earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 78 km (49 mi) SW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) SW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza 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. 3.7 79 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 4.1 84 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.3 66 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 4.1 76 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.7 87 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.4 81 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.5 30 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.5 84 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 106 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.7 102 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.0 66 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.5 74 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.7 75 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 4.0 66 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.7 67 km N of Culebra, 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.