QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Pastos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pastos in the 24 hours to 11:33 pm AST (03:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 32 km (20 mi) SSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pastos

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Pastos, PR, at 5:41 am AST on 31 March 2022 (09:41 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 0 km SW of Pastos, Puerto Rico

38 km (24 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) WSW of Caguas, PR

5:41 am AST, Mar 31, 2022 · · 14 km deep · released about 430 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pastos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aibonito Municipio 2 kmCoamo Municipio 10 kmBarranquitas Municipio 11 kmCayey Municipio 12 kmCidra Municipio 13 kmComerío Municipio 13 kmSalinas Municipio 16 kmNaranjito Municipio 19 kmGuayama 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
5:41 am AST on 31 March 2022 ()
Where
in Pastos, PR · earthquakes near Pastos
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Aibonito Municipio, 2 km N
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 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.

Likely felt in: Cayey 10 km, intensity II · Coamo 11 km, intensity II · Sumidero 18 km, intensity II · Guayama 21 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 430 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 35,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 430 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 5.0 on 2020-01-07 — about 2,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 21 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 44 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 18.1150, -66.2627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aibonito Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Barranquitas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Barranquitas Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) E earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Comerío Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 2 km S of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 4 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 4 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 3 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 19 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 2 km N of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 3 km ENE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.6 1 km SE of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 2 km E of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 2 km N of Yaurel, 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.