QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7md

Earthquake near Vega Baja, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vega Baja in the 24 hours to 7:07 am AST (11:07 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 81 km (51 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vega Baja

This page: a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded in Vega Baja, PR, at 12:36 am AST on 25 January 2023 (04:36 UTC), 112 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

34 km (21 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 25 km (15 mi) WNW of Bayamón, PR

12:36 am AST, Jan 25, 2023 · · 112 km deep · released about 5 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Vega Baja Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vega Baja Municipio 3 kmVega Alta Municipio 6 kmManatí Municipio 11 kmMorovis Municipio 13 kmDorado Municipio 14 kmCorozal Municipio 16 kmToa Alta Municipio 17 kmBarceloneta Municipio 18 kmFlorida Municipio 20 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
12:36 am AST on 25 January 2023 ()
Where
in Vega Baja, PR · earthquakes near Vega Baja
Magnitude
M 3.7 (md)
Depth
112 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vega Baja Municipio, 3 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1311 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Monserrate, Ceiba, Sabana, Miranda, Coto Norte, Vega Alta.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5 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 34,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500× 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 5 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 in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 12 times the energy of this one.

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 18.4300, -66.3895. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) NNW earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near Morovis Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Corozal Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Corozal Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 4 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 1 km SSW of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 3 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 5 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 2 km SSW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 2 km WSW of Aguilita, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  8. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  10. 3.6 11 km NNE of Hatillo, 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.