QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Moca, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Moca in the 24 hours to 1:30 am AST (05:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, in Moca, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Moca

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Moca, PR, at 1:11 pm AST on 18 February 2022 (17:11 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ESE of Moca, Puerto Rico

21 km (13 mi) NNE of Mayagüez, PR · 108 km (67 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:11 pm AST, Feb 18, 2022 · · 22 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Moca Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Moca Municipio 1 kmAguada Municipio 10 kmAñasco Municipio 12 kmAguadilla Municipio 12 kmIsabela Municipio 14 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 14 kmRincón Municipio 18 kmQuebradillas Municipio 19 kmLas Marías 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
1:11 pm AST on 18 February 2022 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Moca, PR · earthquakes near Moca
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Moca Municipio, 1 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1727 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Moca, 3 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: Aceitunas, Luyando, Caban, Aguadilla, Rafael Hernandez, Aguada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 4.9 on 2020-07-03 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 14 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 24 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNW 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 18.3842, -67.0903. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Moca Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 3 km SW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 0 km WNW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.2 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 1 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 1 km WNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 5 km SW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 1 km W of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 2 km N of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 1 km SSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 6 km SW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 4 km E of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 6 km WSW of Guánica, 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.