QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6md

Earthquake near Candelero Arriba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Candelero Arriba in the 24 hours to 6:03 pm AST (22:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 14 km (9 mi) S, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east of Candelero Arriba, PR, at 10:28 pm AST on 25 September 2022 (02:28 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 5 km E of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico

44 km (27 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

10:28 pm AST, Sep 25, 2022 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 3.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 3 kmYabucoa Municipio 9 kmLas Piedras Municipio 12 kmNaguabo Municipio 13 kmMaunabo Municipio 17 kmJuncos Municipio 18 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 20 kmCeiba Municipio 24 kmPatillas Municipio 24 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
10:28 pm AST on 25 September 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east of Candelero Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Candelero Arriba
Magnitude
M 3.6 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 3 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1439 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 68 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. In Candelero Arriba, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Humacao 6 km, intensity III · Emajagua 16 km, intensity III · Aguas Claras 21 km, intensity III · Jagual 23 km, intensity III · Fajardo 28 km, intensity III · Luquillo 30 km, intensity II · Río Grande 30 km, intensity II · Caguas 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 46,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.7× 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 2021-10-08 — about 65 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 · 40 km WNW 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 18.1090, -65.7886. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) N earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos 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. 3.1 11 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 4 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  5. 3.1 3 km E of Celada, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 6 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 19 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 5 km SSW of Ramos, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.1 3 km SSW of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  13. 1.9 9 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.3 15 km S of Esperanza, 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.