QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 2:38 am AST (06:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of La Playa, PR, at 10:22 pm AST on 27 February 2022 (02:22 UTC), 28 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico

9 km (5 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 122 km (76 mi) W of San Juan, PR

10:22 pm AST, Feb 27, 2022 · · 28 km deep · released about 2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 9 kmRincón Municipio 11 kmAguada Municipio 14 kmHormigueros Municipio 16 kmMoca Municipio 19 kmSan Germán Municipio 24 kmLas Marías Municipio 24 kmAguadilla Municipio 26 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 26 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
10:22 pm AST on 27 February 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 9 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1649 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 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In La Playa, 5 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.

Likely felt in: Mayagüez 9 km, intensity II · Rincón 11 km, intensity II · Aguada 15 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 19 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 21 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 25 km, intensity II · San Germán 25 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 28 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 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 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.1× 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 5.3 on 2020-07-03 — about 680 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 45 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 43 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 22 km NE 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 18.2495, -67.2048. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 1 km NNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 1 km ENE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 1 km S of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 2 km N of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 1 km SSW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 0 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 5 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 10 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 7 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 6 km ESE of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 6 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 6 km SSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 2 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, 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.