QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Cayey, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cayey in the 24 hours to 2:08 pm AST (18:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 38 km (24 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cayey

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east of Cayey, PR, at 10:10 pm AST on 8 September 2022 (02:10 UTC), 27 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km E of Cayey, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 17 km (11 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

10:10 pm AST, Sep 8, 2022 · · 27 km deep · released about 860 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cayey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 2 kmCidra Municipio 8 kmAibonito Municipio 14 kmCaguas Municipio 14 kmGuayama Municipio 15 kmComerío Municipio 16 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 16 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 17 kmArroyo Municipio 18 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
10:10 pm AST on 8 September 2022 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east of Cayey, PR · earthquakes near Cayey
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 2 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1524 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 Cayey, 3 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: Cayey 3 km, intensity II · Sumidero 12 km, intensity II · Guayama 14 km, intensity II · Jagual 16 km, intensity II · Caguas 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 860 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 6.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 860 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 280 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 17 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW 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 18.1093, -66.1358. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 3 km SSE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 2 km WNW of Gurabo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 18 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 4 km W of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 2 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 3 km S of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 5 km NW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 0 km N of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 7 km ENE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 3 km SSW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 2 km S of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 6 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 4 km S of Potala Pastillo, 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.