QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

Earthquake near Aguas Buenas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Buenas in the 24 hours to 10:50 am AST (14:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 87 km (54 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas

This page: a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 6 km (3 mi) northwest of Aguas Buenas, PR, at 4:18 pm AST on 22 October 2022 (20:18 UTC), 20 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5 km NW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico

16 km (10 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 11 km (7 mi) S of Bayamón, PR

4:18 pm AST, Oct 22, 2022 · · 20 km deep · released about 1.5 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 4 kmGuaynabo Municipio 7 kmBayamón Municipio 8 kmComerío Municipio 10 kmNaranjito Municipio 11 kmCidra Municipio 12 kmCaguas Municipio 13 kmToa Alta Municipio 14 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 16 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
4:18 pm AST on 22 October 2022 ()
Where
6 km (3 mi) northwest of Aguas Buenas, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Buenas
Magnitude
M 3.3 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 4 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1408 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 50 km (31 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguas Buenas, 6 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: Sumidero 8 km, intensity III · Guaynabo 9 km, intensity III · Caguas 12 km, intensity III · Bayamón 13 km, intensity II · Trujillo Alto 17 km, intensity II · Cataño 18 km, intensity II · Levittown 19 km, intensity II · Corozal 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.5 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.5 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.2× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 78 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 3 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 32 km NW 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 18.2851, -66.1461. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Cidra Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 3 km W of Miranda, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 9 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.9 7 km NNW of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 4 km NW of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 5 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.7 0 km ESE of Campanilla, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 5 km ESE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 3 km E of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 12 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 10 km NW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 3 km SE of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.2 24 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 3 km ENE of Capitanejo, 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.