QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Capitanejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Capitanejo in the 24 hours to 10:20 pm AST (02:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Capitanejo

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Capitanejo, PR, at 2:16 am AST on 11 December 2022 (06:16 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 3 km ENE of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) E of Ponce, PR

2:16 am AST, Dec 11, 2022 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Capitanejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 3 kmPonce Municipio 11 kmVillalba Municipio 13 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 14 kmCoamo Municipio 18 kmJayuya Municipio 23 kmOrocovis Municipio 23 kmPeñuelas Municipio 24 kmSalinas 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
2:16 am AST on 11 December 2022 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Capitanejo, PR · earthquakes near Capitanejo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 3 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1431 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Capitanejo, 3 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: Río Cañas Abajo 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 lb of TNT

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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 18,000,000 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 · 47 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 18.0211, -66.5043. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SSE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  2. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.5 9 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  6. 1.8 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 2 km NNE of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 1 km WNW of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 0 km ENE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 5 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 0 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 Puerto Rico region

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.