QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6md

Earthquake near Bajandas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bajandas in the 24 hours to 9:55 pm AST (01:55 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 52 km (32 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bajandas

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Bajandas, PR, at 4:03 am AST on 16 March 2024 (08:03 UTC), 10 km deep. 57 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km SSW of Bajandas, Puerto Rico

43 km (26 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 29 km (18 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

4:03 am AST, Mar 16, 2024 · · 10 km deep · released about 4.5 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Bajandas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 2 kmYabucoa Municipio 10 kmLas Piedras Municipio 11 kmNaguabo Municipio 12 kmJuncos Municipio 17 kmMaunabo Municipio 17 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 19 kmCeiba Municipio 24 kmPatillas 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
4:03 am AST on 16 March 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Bajandas, PR · earthquakes near Bajandas
Magnitude
M 3.6 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
57 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 2 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 907 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 72 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Bajandas, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Humacao 5 km, intensity III · Emajagua 16 km, intensity III · Aguas Claras 21 km, intensity III · Jagual 22 km, intensity III · Fajardo 27 km, intensity III · Río Grande 29 km, intensity III · Luquillo 29 km, intensity III · Caguas 30 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 4.5 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 38,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 4.5 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 9.4× 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 2021-10-08 — about 53 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 39 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 18.1191, -65.7948. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) NNE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 3 km SW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 26 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 18 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 0 km SSE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 5 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 3 km NE of Martorell, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 21 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 14 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km E of Pastos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 1 km ESE of Gurabo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 4 km SSW of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 21 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 4 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 5 km SW of Las Piedras, 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.