QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5md

90 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 90 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico, 98 km (61 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR, at 12:07 pm AST on 30 June 2023 (16:07 UTC), 36 km deep.

98 km (61 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR

· 36 km deep · released about 3.2 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 90 kmSan Juan Municipio 96 kmCarolina Municipio 96 kmRío Grande Municipio 97 kmCataño Municipio 97 kmToa Baja Municipio 97 kmFajardo Municipio 98 kmLuquillo Municipio 98 kmDorado Municipio 99 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
36 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 90 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1230 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 56 km (35 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 4.3 on 2022-12-25 — about 16 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 7 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 41 km SE 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 19.2460, -65.7905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 90 km (56 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 96 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 96 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 97 km (60 mi) S earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 97 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 97 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja 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. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  2. 3.4 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.7 126 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.5 80 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.7 86 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 93 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 57 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 113 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.6 69 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  11. 4.2 123 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.7 135 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 132 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  14. 4.0 123 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 93 km N of San Juan, 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.