QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Palmarejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Palmarejo in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 6 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Palmarejo

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west of Palmarejo, PR, at 12:52 pm AST on 31 December 2022 (16:52 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 3 km W of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico

18 km (11 mi) S of Mayagüez, PR · 118 km (73 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

12:52 pm AST, Dec 31, 2022 · · 22 km deep · released about 110 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palmarejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cabo Rojo Municipio 9 kmLajas Municipio 10 kmHormigueros Municipio 11 kmSan Germán Municipio 11 kmSabana Grande Municipio 18 kmGuánica Municipio 22 kmMaricao Municipio 24 kmLas Marías Municipio 25 kmYauco Municipio 27 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
12:52 pm AST on 31 December 2022 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) west of Palmarejo, PR · earthquakes near Palmarejo
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cabo Rojo Municipio, 9 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1392 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Palmarejo, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Monte Grande, Lajas, Boquerón, Sabana Eneas, Cabo Rojo, San Germán.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 1,100,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 40 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 32 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 31 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 18.0380, -67.1120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 5 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 10 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 9 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  5. 2.4 4 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 4 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 4 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 4 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 2 km NW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 3 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.2 0 km WNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 7 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 2 km SE of Cabo Rojo, 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.