QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7md

116 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 116 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico, at 11:49 pm AST on 21 December 2022 (03:49 UTC), 88 km deep.

· 88 km deep · released about 4.8 tons of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 117 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 3.7 (md)
Depth
88 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 117 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1421 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 4.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 35,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.7 about 4.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 10× 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 4.1 on 2022-12-09 — about 5.1 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 46 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 25 km S 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 19.4806, -65.7443. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 117 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 123 km (76 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 123 km (76 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 123 km (77 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 124 km (77 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 132 km (82 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 4.1 132 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  2. 4.0 109 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 4.0 Puerto Rico region
  4. 4.1 141 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  5. 4.0 128 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.9 124 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.6 118 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 132 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.7 113 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.9 138 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 82 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 68 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.3 86 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.6 137 km NNE of Vieques, 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.