QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Vega Baja, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vega Baja in the 24 hours to 10:51 am AST (14:51 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 81 km (51 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vega Baja

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Vega Baja, PR, at 9:26 am AST on 28 August 2022 (13:26 UTC), 25 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km NNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico

38 km (23 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 29 km (18 mi) WNW of Bayamón, PR

9:26 am AST, Aug 28, 2022 · · 25 km deep · released about 800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Vega Baja Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vega Baja Municipio 3 kmVega Alta Municipio 9 kmManatí Municipio 10 kmBarceloneta Municipio 16 kmDorado Municipio 16 kmMorovis Municipio 18 kmFlorida Municipio 21 kmCorozal Municipio 22 kmToa Alta Municipio 22 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
9:26 am AST on 28 August 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Vega Baja, PR · earthquakes near Vega Baja
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Vega Baja Municipio, 3 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1536 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 Vega Baja, 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: Vega Baja 5 km, intensity II · San Antonio 12 km, intensity II · Barceloneta 14 km, intensity II · Dorado 15 km, intensity II · Ciales 18 km, intensity II · Corozal 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 150 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 19 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 38 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 8 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 18.4835, -66.4107. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Morovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 34 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 7 km WNW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 6 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 13 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 2 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 5 km NW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 7 km ENE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 17 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 4 km SE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 4 km NW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 49 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 11 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 36 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 5 km NNW of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 3 km N of Orocovis, 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.