QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6md

Earthquake near Rafael Hernandez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rafael Hernandez in the 24 hours to 1:01 pm AST (17:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 9 km (6 mi) NNW, at 6:20 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rafael Hernandez

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded in Rafael Hernandez, PR, at 1:48 am AST on 16 October 2024 (05:48 UTC), 120 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 0 km S of Rafael Hernandez, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) NNE of Mayagüez, PR · 107 km (67 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:48 am AST, Oct 16, 2024 · · 120 km deep · released about 3.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Rafael Hernandez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 7 kmIsabela Municipio 7 kmMoca Municipio 10 kmAguada Municipio 15 kmQuebradillas Municipio 16 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 19 kmAñasco Municipio 20 kmRincón Municipio 23 kmCamuy Municipio 23 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
1:48 am AST on 16 October 2024 ()
Where
in Rafael Hernandez, PR · earthquakes near Rafael Hernandez
Magnitude
M 3.6 (md)
Depth
120 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 7 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 756 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. 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: Aceitunas, Mora, Caban, Isabela, Moca, Aguadilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.9× 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 2019-09-05 — about 13 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. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 14 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 19 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 18.4631, -67.0805. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 12 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 17 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 13 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.6 12 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 11 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 4 km SE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 25 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 13 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 17 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.3 22 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 14 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 38 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 21 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 19 km SSW of Stella, 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.