QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Rafael Capo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rafael Capo in the 24 hours to 12:57 pm AST (16:57 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 50 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rafael Capo

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) southeast of Rafael Capo, PR, at 11:58 am AST on 9 August 2022 (15:58 UTC), 128 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km SE of Rafael Capo, Puerto Rico

8 km (5 mi) SSW of Arecibo, PR · 73 km (45 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:58 am AST, Aug 9, 2022 · · 128 km deep · released about 800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rafael Capo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hatillo Municipio 8 kmArecibo Municipio 10 kmUtuado Municipio 14 kmCamuy Municipio 14 kmLares Municipio 17 kmFlorida Municipio 20 kmQuebradillas Municipio 21 kmBarceloneta Municipio 22 kmAdjuntas Municipio 23 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
11:58 am AST on 9 August 2022 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) southeast of Rafael Capo, PR · earthquakes near Rafael Capo
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
128 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Hatillo Municipio, 8 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1555 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Rafael Capo, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Rafael Gonzalez, Bajadero, Corcovado, Quebrada, Cayuco, Arecibo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 800 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 150,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 28 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 34 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km ENE 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 18.3842, -66.7512. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hatillo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Utuado Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Utuado Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Florida Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 3 km S of Animas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 13 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 1 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 4 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 16 km NE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 4 km SE of Las Marías, 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.