QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Las Piedras, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Las Piedras in the 24 hours to 10:49 am AST (14:49 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Las Piedras

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Las Piedras, PR, at 3:47 am AST on 26 October 2022 (07:47 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 15 km (9 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

3:47 am AST, Oct 26, 2022 · · 24 km deep · released about 94 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Las Piedras Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Piedras Municipio 4 kmJuncos Municipio 5 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 8 kmGurabo Municipio 13 kmHumacao Municipio 14 kmYabucoa Municipio 14 kmCaguas Municipio 16 kmCanóvanas Municipio 17 kmNaguabo Municipio 18 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
3:47 am AST on 26 October 2022 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west of Las Piedras, PR · earthquakes near Las Piedras
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Piedras Municipio, 4 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1477 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. In Las Piedras, 4 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: La Fermina, Juncos, San Lorenzo, El Mangó, Pueblito del Rio, Humacao.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 94 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 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 26 km WNW 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 18.1798, -65.9053. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) N earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 11 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.2 3 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 4 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  6. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  7. 3.1 3 km E of Celada, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 6 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 5 km SSW of Ramos, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.1 3 km SSW of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 9 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  14. 2.8 16 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 5 km NW of Palomas, 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.