QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Yauco, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yauco in the 24 hours to 11:32 am AST (15:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 6 km (4 mi) ESE, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yauco

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Yauco, PR, at 2:51 am AST on 17 September 2022 (06:51 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 1 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico

25 km (15 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

2:51 am AST, Sep 17, 2022 · · 21 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yauco Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yauco Municipio 4 kmGuayanilla Municipio 8 kmSabana Grande Municipio 11 kmPeñuelas Municipio 13 kmGuánica Municipio 14 kmMaricao Municipio 16 kmAdjuntas Municipio 18 kmSan Germán Municipio 21 kmLajas Municipio 21 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
2:51 am AST on 17 September 2022 ()
Where
in Yauco, PR · earthquakes near Yauco
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yauco Municipio, 4 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1516 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Palomas, Lluveras, Indios, Guayanilla, Maria Antonia, Liborio Negron Torres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 45 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 18.0515, -66.8523. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yauco Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) N earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Maricao Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 5 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 7 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 9 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 4 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  7. 1.8 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.4 3 km WNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 3 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 3 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 5 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 0 km NNE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 5 km S of Indios, 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.