QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Olimpo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Olimpo in the 24 hours to 1:00 pm AST (17:00 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 36 km (22 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Olimpo

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) north of Olimpo, PR, at 6:34 am AST on 24 March 2022 (10:34 UTC), 13 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km N of Olimpo, Puerto Rico

41 km (26 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 23 km (14 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

6:34 am AST, Mar 24, 2022 · · 13 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Olimpo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayama Municipio 8 kmCayey Municipio 9 kmArroyo Municipio 9 kmPatillas Municipio 13 kmCidra Municipio 17 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 18 kmSalinas Municipio 18 kmAibonito Municipio 20 kmCaguas Municipio 20 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
6:34 am AST on 24 March 2022 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) north of Olimpo, PR · earthquakes near Olimpo
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Guayama Municipio, 8 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1558 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 38 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Olimpo, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Guayama 6 km, intensity III · Cayey 11 km, intensity III · Jagual 18 km, intensity II · Sumidero 21 km, intensity II · Caguas 23 km, intensity II · Emajagua 24 km, intensity II · Coamo 28 km, intensity II · Humacao 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 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 6.7 280,000× 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 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 200 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 · 25 km N 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 18.0350, -66.1022. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayama Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near San Lorenzo 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. 2.2 13 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 14 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.3 15 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 1 km SE of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 23 km S of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 7 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 2 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 5 km ESE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 8 km SSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 4 km E of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 2 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 5 km SSE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 0 km N of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 3 km ESE of Jobos, 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.