137 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 4.1 earthquake was recorded 137 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico, at 4:56 pm AST on 9 December 2022 (20:56 UTC), 59 km deep.

2022-12-09 20:56 UTC · 59 km deep · released about 24 tons of TNT

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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: 2022-12-09 20:56 UTC
Magnitude: M 4.1 (md)
Depth: 59 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1369 days ago · we first saw it 1369 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 90 km (56 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 6,900× the energy of this one
Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 4.1 about 24 tons of TNT
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 51× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.1 on 2022-12-06.

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

5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 46 km S of this epicentre Aug 14, 2009

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

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Aftershocks so far

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

4.1 139 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 08:58 UTC
4.1 132 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 03:05 UTC
4.0 109 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 18:08 UTC
4.0 Puerto Rico region 06:06 UTC
4.1 141 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 08:35 UTC
4.0 128 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 06:47 UTC
3.9 124 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 00:27 UTC
3.6 118 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 23:33 UTC
3.4 132 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 23:23 UTC
3.7 113 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 09:19 UTC
3.4 Puerto Rico region 22:33 UTC
3.9 138 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico 21:41 UTC
3.6 137 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico 21:30 UTC
3.4 Puerto Rico region 09:56 UTC
3.4 145 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico 21:37 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:11 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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