QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Central Aguirre, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Central Aguirre in the 24 hours to 3:20 pm AST (19:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Central Aguirre

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) southwest of Central Aguirre, PR, at 11:54 pm AST on 16 May 2022 (03:54 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 12 km SW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico

65 km (40 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 38 km (24 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

11:54 pm AST, May 16, 2022 · · 18 km deep · released about 72 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Central Aguirre Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 12 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 14 kmGuayama Municipio 20 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 25 kmCoamo Municipio 27 kmArroyo Municipio 29 kmAibonito Municipio 30 kmCayey Municipio 30 kmVillalba Municipio 35 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
11:54 pm AST on 16 May 2022 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) southwest of Central Aguirre, PR · earthquakes near Central Aguirre
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 12 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1640 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Central Aguirre, 12 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: Salinas, Las Ochenta, Jauca, Coquí, Parcelas Peñuelas, Coco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 72 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 110,000 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 · 47 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 17.8667, -66.2933. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Arroyo 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. 2.2 8 km SSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 11 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 4 km NNE of Aibonito, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 3 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.5 3 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 4 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.3 10 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 11 km SSW 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.