QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Central Aguirre, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Central Aguirre in the 24 hours to 5:22 pm AST (21:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Central Aguirre

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) south of Central Aguirre, PR, at 3:19 pm AST on 30 January 2022 (19:19 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 12 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico

65 km (41 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 45 km (28 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

3:19 pm AST, Jan 30, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 1,400 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Central Aguirre Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 18 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 21 kmArroyo Municipio 25 kmCayey Municipio 31 kmPatillas Municipio 31 kmCoamo Municipio 32 kmAibonito Municipio 33 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 33 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
3:19 pm AST on 30 January 2022 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) south of Central Aguirre, PR · earthquakes near Central Aguirre
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 15 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1745 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 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Central Aguirre, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Guayama 20 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 23 km, intensity II · Coamo 30 km, intensity II · Cayey 31 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 34 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,400 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 6.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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 5.0 on 2020-01-07 — about 680 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 48 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 17.8388, -66.2300. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 31 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km WNW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 14 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 2 km SSW of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 1 km NW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 4 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 3 km E of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 4 km W of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 6 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 2 km E of G. L. Garcia, 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.