QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Levittown, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Levittown in the 24 hours to 3:25 am AST (07:25 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 99 km (61 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Levittown

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Levittown, PR, at 3:36 pm AST on 21 March 2022 (19:36 UTC), 106 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km NNW of Levittown, Puerto Rico

17 km (10 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 13 km (8 mi) NNW of Bayamón, PR

3:36 pm AST, Mar 21, 2022 · · 106 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Levittown Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Toa Baja Municipio 4 kmCataño Municipio 7 kmDorado Municipio 8 kmSan Juan Municipio 15 kmToa Alta Municipio 15 kmBayamón Municipio 16 kmVega Alta Municipio 16 kmGuaynabo Municipio 18 kmVega Baja Municipio 22 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
3:36 pm AST on 21 March 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Levittown, PR · earthquakes near Levittown
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
106 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Toa Baja Municipio, 4 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1559 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 Levittown, 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: Ingenio, Sabana Seca, Candelaria Arenas, Dorado, Toa Baja, Campanilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 95 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 27 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 16 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 18.4920, -66.1928. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 6 km ESE of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.7 2 km ESE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 18 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 2 km SW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 8 km NNW of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 1 km SE of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 4 km ENE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 32 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 4 km E of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 5 km SSE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 7 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 3 km NNW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 1 km WNW of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 5 km N of Levittown, 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.