QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 8:35 pm AST (00:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) west of Rincón, PR, at 2:34 am AST on 20 October 2022 (06:34 UTC), 9.4 km deep.

USGS: 44 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

60 km (37 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 119 km (74 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

2:34 am AST, Oct 20, 2022 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 41 kmRincón Municipio 45 kmAguada Municipio 51 kmAguadilla Municipio 56 kmAñasco Municipio 58 kmMoca Municipio 62 kmHormigueros Municipio 65 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 68 kmIsabela Municipio 70 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 20 October 2022 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) west of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 41 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1484 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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 45 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: Rincón 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 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 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 63 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 48 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 39 km SE 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 18.3922, -67.6698. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 51 km (32 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 48 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 46 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 11 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  4. 4.0 44 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.7 49 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 2.8 22 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 Mona Passage
  8. 3.0 16 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 3 km E of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 55 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.6 13 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 12 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.4 66 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.3 50 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 14 km NW of Puerto Real, 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.