QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 5:18 pm AST (21:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 11:30 am AST on 23 July 2022 (15:30 UTC), 8.1 km deep.

USGS: 17 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

85 km (53 mi) SE of San Juan, PR

11:30 am AST, Jul 23, 2022 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 420 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 20 kmCeiba Municipio 40 kmHumacao Municipio 44 kmCulebra Municipio 44 kmNaguabo Municipio 44 kmYabucoa Municipio 48 kmMaunabo Municipio 50 kmFajardo Municipio 52 kmLas Piedras Municipio 55 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
11:30 am AST on 23 July 2022 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 20 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1572 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 18 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.

Likely felt in: Esperanza 18 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 23 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 420 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 36,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 2021-10-08 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9448, -65.4227. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 44 km (28 mi) NW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 9 km S of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.1 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.5 9 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 11 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  9. 3.0 18 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 11 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.7 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 19 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.3 Puerto Rico region

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.