QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 4:23 pm AST (20:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 11:35 pm AST on 23 September 2022 (03:35 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 9 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

80 km (50 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR

11:35 pm AST, Sep 23, 2022 · · 18 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 9 kmCulebra Municipio 32 kmCeiba Municipio 33 kmNaguabo Municipio 40 kmHumacao Municipio 42 kmFajardo Municipio 42 kmLuquillo Municipio 48 kmYabucoa Municipio 49 kmLas Piedras Municipio 52 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
11:35 pm AST on 23 September 2022 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 9 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1510 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 9 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: Esperanza 9 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 12 km, intensity II · Culebra 30 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 390 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.0502, -65.3995. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 33 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 2.9 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 9 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 19 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 1 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 29 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 8 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 9 km S of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.1 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 Puerto Rico region

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.