QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 5:38 pm AST (21:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in Salinas, PR, at 4:29 pm AST on 20 March 2022 (20:29 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 0 km E of Salinas, Puerto Rico

53 km (33 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 35 km (22 mi) E of Ponce, PR

4:29 pm AST, Mar 20, 2022 · · 13 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 3 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 11 kmCoamo Municipio 16 kmGuayama Municipio 16 kmAibonito Municipio 17 kmCayey Municipio 20 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 21 kmBarranquitas Municipio 25 kmVillalba Municipio 26 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
4:29 pm AST on 20 March 2022 ()
Where
in Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 3 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1697 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Las Ochenta, Coco, Parcelas Peñuelas, Mariano Colón, Coquí, Central Aguirre.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 5.6 on 2020-01-07 — about 310,000 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 · 35 km NNE 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 17.9780, -66.2915. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) ESE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 3 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 2 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 13 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 4 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 4 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 4 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 5 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 0 km SW of Pastos, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 2 km NNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.3 2 km SE of Tallaboa, 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.