QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 7:57 pm AST (23:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west of La Playa, PR, at 2:34 am AST on 9 September 2022 (06:34 UTC), 76 km deep.

USGS: 2 km W of La Playa, Puerto Rico

12 km (8 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 122 km (76 mi) W of San Juan, PR

2:34 am AST, Sep 9, 2022 · · 76 km deep · released about 1,600 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 7 kmAñasco Municipio 8 kmAguada Municipio 10 kmMoca Municipio 17 kmHormigueros Municipio 20 kmAguadilla Municipio 23 kmLas Marías Municipio 26 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 26 kmSan Germán Municipio 27 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
2:34 am AST on 9 September 2022 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
76 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 7 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1028 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 La Playa, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stella, Las Marias, Rincón, Añasco, Espino, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 5.3 on 2020-07-03 — about 1,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 17 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 29 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km N 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 18.2878, -67.2107. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 1 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 4 km SSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 6 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  5. 1.9 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 7 km WSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 1 km SW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 5 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  12. 3.3 11 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  15. 1.7 Mona Passage

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.