QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.5ml

73 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico

· 24 km deep · released about 71 tons of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 72 kmFajardo Municipio 75 kmLuquillo Municipio 84 kmRío Grande Municipio 89 kmCeiba Municipio 90 kmLoíza Municipio 95 kmVieques Municipio 96 kmCanóvanas Municipio 99 kmNaguabo Municipio 100 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
Magnitude
M 4.5 (ml)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 72 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1464 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 71 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,400× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.5 about 71 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 150× 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.

Where

Epicentre 18.9670, -65.2275. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Culebra Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) N of here earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 75 km (47 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 84 km (52 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 90 km (56 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Loíza 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.

  1. 3.4 74 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.4 90 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 75 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 Virgin Islands
  5. 3.0 67 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  7. 3.4 96 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.6 38 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.5 104 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.6 82 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.7 86 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.7 75 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.3 58 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.7 55 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.6 66 km N 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.0 on 2021-02-06 — it released about 6.5 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.