Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5md
Earthquake near Culebra, PR
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Culebra in the last 24 hours. M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) ENE of Culebra, at 6:51 am AST on 11 November 2026 (10:51 UTC); the estimated shaking in Culebra was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Culebra
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded in Culebra, PR, at 5:45 am AST on 17 January 2022 (09:45 UTC), 23 km deep.
USGS: 1 km SSW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
81 km (50 mi) E of San Juan, PR
- When
- 5:45 am AST on 17 January 2022 ()
- Where
- in Culebra, PR · earthquakes near Culebra
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (md)
- Depth
- 23 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Culebra Municipio, 4 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1685 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Culebra, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Culebra, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 60 km (37 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.
Likely felt in: Culebra in town, intensity III · Isabel Segunda 22 km, intensity II · Esperanza 28 km, intensity II · Fajardo 37 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 37 km, intensity II · Luquillo 44 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 61,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.8× 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 2021-10-08 — about 86 times the energy of this one.
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 18.2923, -65.3035. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 4 km (2 mi) | N | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 23 km (14 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 32 km (20 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 34 km (21 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
| Luquillo Municipio, PR | 44 km (27 mi) | W | earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio |
| Naguabo Municipio, PR | 47 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Naguabo 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.
- 2.7 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 18 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 36 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.3 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 17 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 22 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 21 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.1 9 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 10 km ENE of Luis M. Cintron, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 29 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.7 4 km E of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 5 km ESE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 36 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.5 35 km SSW 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.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.