QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near San Sebastián, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Sebastián in the 24 hours to 5:24 pm AST (21:24 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 50 km (31 mi) N, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near San Sebastián

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southwest of San Sebastián, PR, at 6:19 pm AST on 3 December 2022 (22:19 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

19 km (12 mi) NE of Mayagüez, PR · 100 km (62 mi) W of San Juan, PR

6:19 pm AST, Dec 3, 2022 · · 14 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Sebastián Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Sebastián Municipio 4 kmMoca Municipio 9 kmLas Marías Municipio 11 kmAñasco Municipio 13 kmLares Municipio 16 kmIsabela Municipio 18 kmQuebradillas Municipio 18 kmMaricao Municipio 18 kmAguada Municipio 19 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
6:19 pm AST on 3 December 2022 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) southwest of San Sebastián, PR · earthquakes near San Sebastián
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Sebastián Municipio, 4 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1439 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In San Sebastián, 3 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: San Sebastián 3 km, intensity II · Lares 14 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 83,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 59,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 660,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 25 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 11 km NW 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 18.3238, -67.0098. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) E earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 1 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 1 km NE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 3 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 24 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 0 km ESE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 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.