QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 10:13 am AST (14:13 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR, at 5:07 am AST on 30 September 2022 (09:07 UTC), 80 km deep.

USGS: 14 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

25 km (15 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 139 km (86 mi) W of San Juan, PR

5:07 am AST, Sep 30, 2022 · · 80 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 16 kmAguada Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 25 kmHormigueros Municipio 30 kmMoca Municipio 33 kmAguadilla Municipio 34 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 35 kmSan Germán Municipio 39 kmLas Marías Municipio 41 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
5:07 am AST on 30 September 2022 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
80 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 16 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1503 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 Stella, 15 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: Rincón, La Playa, Aguada, Las Marias, Añasco, Mayagüez.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 26 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 35 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 18.2557, -67.3688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 23 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 3 km SSE of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 Mona Passage
  4. 3.2 5 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 5 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.1 5 km WNW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 5 km ESE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 2 km WSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.2 37 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km NNW of Cabo Rojo, 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.