QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 3:16 pm AST (19:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 2:42 pm AST on 13 February 2022 (18:42 UTC), 108 km deep.

USGS: 28 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

74 km (46 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 58 km (36 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

2:42 pm AST, Feb 13, 2022 · · 108 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 31 kmYabucoa Municipio 31 kmHumacao Municipio 32 kmVieques Municipio 34 kmNaguabo Municipio 38 kmPatillas Municipio 40 kmCeiba Municipio 41 kmLas Piedras Municipio 42 kmArroyo Municipio 45 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
2:42 pm AST on 13 February 2022 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
108 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 31 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1732 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 Esperanza, 29 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: El Negro, Emajagua.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 lb of TNT

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 450 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.8873, -65.6277. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) NW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 38 km (23 mi) NNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 18 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 18 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 4 km W of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 33 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.6 5 km E of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 9 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 2 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 2 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.5 14 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 17 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 28 km SE of El Negro, 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.