QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7md

Earthquake near Ramos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ramos in the 24 hours to 4:29 am AST (08:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 58 km (36 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ramos

This page: a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Ramos, PR, at 9:51 pm AST on 20 March 2024 (01:51 UTC), 131 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SW of Ramos, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) ESE of Carolina, PR

9:51 pm AST, Mar 20, 2024 · · 131 km deep · released about 5.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Ramos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Luquillo Municipio 7 kmRío Grande Municipio 9 kmNaguabo Municipio 12 kmCanóvanas Municipio 15 kmCeiba Municipio 15 kmFajardo Municipio 19 kmLas Piedras Municipio 19 kmJuncos Municipio 20 kmHumacao Municipio 21 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
9:51 pm AST on 20 March 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southwest of Ramos, PR · earthquakes near Ramos
Magnitude
M 3.7 (md)
Depth
131 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Luquillo Municipio, 7 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 898 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. In Ramos, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Palmer, Playa Fortuna, Luquillo, Hato Candal, Duque, Fajardo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.2 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 33,000× 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 1,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 11× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 23 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 · 41 km W 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 18.3163, -65.7486. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Luquillo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 0 km ENE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 1 km S of Canovanas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 6 km NNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 11 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 11 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 3 km SW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 0 km SSE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 5 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 3 km NE of Martorell, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 1 km ESE of Gurabo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 31 km NE of Vieques, 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.