QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Palomas, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Palomas in the last 24 hours. M 2.1, 3 km (2 mi) SE of Palomas, at 4:14 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (20:14 UTC); the estimated shaking in Palomas was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Palomas

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in Palomas, PR, at 10:08 pm AST on 27 January 2023 (02:08 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SW of Palomas, Puerto Rico

28 km (17 mi) W of Ponce, PR

10:08 pm AST, Jan 27, 2023 · · 11 km deep · released about 2,000 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palomas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 7 kmGuayanilla Municipio 9 kmYauco Municipio 10 kmSabana Grande Municipio 11 kmLajas Municipio 17 kmPeñuelas Municipio 17 kmMaricao Municipio 20 kmSan Germán Municipio 20 kmAdjuntas Municipio 24 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
10:08 pm AST on 27 January 2023 ()
Where
in Palomas, PR · earthquakes near Palomas
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 7 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1310 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 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.

Likely felt in: Yauco 5 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 10 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 12 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 18 km, intensity III · San Germán 19 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 20 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 25 km, intensity II · Ponce 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 2,000 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 61,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW 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 18.0005, -66.8843. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNE earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 5 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 5 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.6 0 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 4 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.5 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 2 km ESE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 2 km S of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 4 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 5 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 2 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 3 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 4 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, 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.