QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Río Grande, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Río Grande in the 24 hours to 6:06 pm AST (22:06 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 70 km (44 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Río Grande

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north of Río Grande, PR, at 8:17 am AST on 4 July 2022 (12:17 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 41 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico

54 km (33 mi) NE of San Juan, PR · 48 km (30 mi) NNE of Carolina, PR

8:17 am AST, Jul 4, 2022 · · 14 km deep · released about 610 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Río Grande Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 43 kmRío Grande Municipio 47 kmLuquillo Municipio 48 kmFajardo Municipio 49 kmCarolina Municipio 49 kmSan Juan Municipio 53 kmCanóvanas Municipio 53 kmCataño Municipio 56 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 57 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
8:17 am AST on 4 July 2022 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) north of Río Grande, PR · earthquakes near Río Grande
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 43 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1556 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Río Grande, 47 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 610 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 25,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 610 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 790 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 36 km NE 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 18.7957, -65.7640. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) SSW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 47 km (29 mi) S earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) S earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 49 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 49 km (31 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) SW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 73 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 59 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 64 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 74 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 34 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 78 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 61 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 73 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 56 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 22 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 75 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 58 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.8 5 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.5 29 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 56 km NNE of Luquillo, 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.