QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Levittown, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Levittown in the 24 hours to 1:50 pm AST (17:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 99 km (61 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Levittown

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) north of Levittown, PR, at 10:16 am AST on 23 October 2021 (14:16 UTC), 71 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 13 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico

24 km (15 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 22 km (14 mi) N of Bayamón, PR

10:16 am AST, Oct 23, 2021 · · 71 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Levittown Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 13 kmToa Baja Municipio 13 kmCataño Municipio 15 kmVega Alta Municipio 21 kmSan Juan Municipio 22 kmToa Alta Municipio 24 kmVega Baja Municipio 25 kmBayamón Municipio 25 kmGuaynabo Municipio 27 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
10:16 am AST on 23 October 2021 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) north of Levittown, PR · earthquakes near Levittown
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
71 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 13 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1845 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Levittown, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dorado, Ingenio, San Juan, Toa Baja, Sabana Seca, Cataño.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 380 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 39 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 36 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 17 km WSW 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 18.5741, -66.1973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SW earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 0 km E of Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 29 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 41 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 8 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 4 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.8 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.5 2 km S of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 25 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 4 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 45 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.6 24 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.6 1 km SE of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 23 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 8 km NW of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 Puerto Rico region

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.