QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 7:58 am AST (11:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded in Arecibo, PR, at 7:29 pm AST on 30 January 2022 (23:29 UTC), 99 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km E of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

in Arecibo, PR · 68 km (42 mi) W of San Juan, PR

7:29 pm AST, Jan 30, 2022 · · 99 km deep · released about 2.4 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Arecibo Municipio 5 kmHatillo Municipio 11 kmBarceloneta Municipio 15 kmCamuy Municipio 17 kmFlorida Municipio 18 kmManatí Municipio 22 kmUtuado Municipio 22 kmQuebradillas Municipio 24 kmCiales 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
7:29 pm AST on 30 January 2022 ()
Where
in Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 3.5 (md)
Depth
99 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Arecibo Municipio, 5 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1559 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. 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: Bajadero, Animas, Corcovado, Carrizales, Sabana Hoyos, Rafael Gonzalez.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.4 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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.1× 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 25 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 · 18 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 40 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 38 km E 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 18.4700, -66.7005. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Arecibo Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SE earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Manatí Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 1 km WNW of Morovis, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 6 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 23 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 6 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 18 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 13 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 3 km NNW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 2 km N of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 42 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 2 km ESE of Moca, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 28 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 16 km N of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 2 km NE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 10 km SSE of Lares, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 9 km NNW of Yauco, 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.