QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 6:09 pm AST (22:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Mayagüez, PR, at 11:01 pm AST on 17 August 2022 (03:01 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

5 km (3 mi) SW of Mayagüez, PR · 121 km (75 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

11:01 pm AST, Aug 17, 2022 · · 17 km deep · released about 530 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 8 kmAñasco Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 17 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 20 kmRincón Municipio 20 kmLas Marías Municipio 22 kmAguada Municipio 22 kmMoca Municipio 25 kmMaricao Municipio 26 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
11:01 pm AST on 17 August 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southwest of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 8 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1547 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 5 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: Mayagüez 5 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 11 km, intensity II · San Germán 18 km, intensity II · Rincón 20 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 22 km, intensity II · Aguada 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 530 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 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 230,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 20 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 20 km W 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 18.1735, -67.1815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 9 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 2 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 3 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 4 km WNW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 4 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 12 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 5 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 2 km WNW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 1 km E of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 1 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 11 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 2 km ESE of Maria Antonia, 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.