QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5md

85 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 85 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico, at 11:24 pm AST on 3 March 2023 (03:24 UTC), 28 km deep.

· 28 km deep · released about 3.2 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 84 kmManatí Municipio 87 kmVega Baja Municipio 88 kmArecibo Municipio 89 kmDorado Municipio 89 kmVega Alta Municipio 91 kmHatillo Municipio 91 kmCamuy Municipio 93 kmQuebradillas Municipio 93 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 3.5 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 84 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1284 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 60 km (37 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 3.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.7× 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 75 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 34 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 39 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 11 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 7 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 57 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 46 km WSW 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 19.2288, -66.5566. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 84 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 88 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) S earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 89 km (56 mi) SSE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 56 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 87 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.3 85 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 80 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 77 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 77 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 68 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.6 70 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 45 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 65 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.4 81 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 59 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.