QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Vieques, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vieques in the 24 hours to 12:57 pm AST (16:57 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 74 km (46 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vieques

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) north-northeast of Vieques, PR, at 5:42 pm AST on 25 January 2022 (21:42 UTC), 88 km deep.

USGS: 28 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

48 km (30 mi) NE of San Juan, PR · 40 km (25 mi) NE of Carolina, PR

5:42 pm AST, Jan 25, 2022 · · 88 km deep · released about 1.8 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Vieques Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 31 kmLuquillo Municipio 31 kmRío Grande Municipio 32 kmLoíza Municipio 35 kmCarolina Municipio 41 kmCanóvanas Municipio 41 kmCeiba Municipio 44 kmSan Juan Municipio 47 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 48 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
5:42 pm AST on 25 January 2022 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) north-northeast of Vieques, PR · earthquakes near Vieques
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
88 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 31 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1677 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 Vieques, 29 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: Suárez.

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 2021-03-09 — about 130 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 · 44 km NNE 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 18.6458, -65.6880. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 32 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 41 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 7 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 67 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 34 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 50 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 60 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 47 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 41 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 8 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 25 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 67 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 25 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 43 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 63 km NNE of Luquillo, 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.