Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 8:56 am AST (12:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) east-southeast of Ponce, PR, at 6:03 am AST on 2 October 2022 (10:03 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

14 km (9 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

6:03 am AST, Oct 2, 2022 · 2022-10-02 10:03 UTC · 11 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 6:03 am AST on 2 October 2022 (2022-10-02 10:03 UTC)
Where: 15 km (9 mi) east-southeast of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude: M 2.6 (md)
Depth: 11 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Juana Díaz Municipio, 6 km N
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1502 days ago · we first saw it 1502 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 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.

Likely felt in: Santa Isabel 10 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 11 km, intensity II · Ponce 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR	6 km (4 mi)	N	earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR	12 km (7 mi)	E	earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR	13 km (8 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR	21 km (13 mi)	N	earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR	23 km (14 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR	25 km (16 mi)	E	earthquakes near Salinas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.7 Puerto Rico region 22:08 UTC
2.2 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 22:07 UTC
2.4 1 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 16:44 UTC
1.6 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico 16:11 UTC
2.3 1 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico 03:02 UTC
2.5 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico 05:45 UTC
2.2 0 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 04:51 UTC
2.1 2 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico 21:13 UTC
2.1 1 km E of Lluveras, Puerto Rico 20:39 UTC
2.4 0 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico 19:32 UTC
2.3 5 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico 19:24 UTC
2.4 4 km SE of Tallaboa Alta, Puerto Rico 18:38 UTC
1.7 4 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico 12:51 UTC
1.9 4 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico 12:48 UTC
3.0 5 km SW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico 11:18 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:56 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.