QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Playa Fortuna, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Playa Fortuna in the 24 hours to 10:20 am AST (14:20 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 64 km (40 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Playa Fortuna

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Playa Fortuna, PR, at 11:06 pm AST on 11 December 2022 (03:06 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 25 km NNE of Playa Fortuna, Puerto Rico

47 km (29 mi) ENE of San Juan, PR · 39 km (24 mi) ENE of Carolina, PR

11:06 pm AST, Dec 11, 2022 · · 19 km deep · released about 1.6 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Playa Fortuna Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 26 kmLuquillo Municipio 26 kmRío Grande Municipio 29 kmLoíza Municipio 34 kmCanóvanas Municipio 38 kmCarolina Municipio 39 kmCeiba Municipio 39 kmNaguabo Municipio 44 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 46 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
11:06 pm AST on 11 December 2022 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Playa Fortuna, PR · earthquakes near Playa Fortuna
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 26 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1430 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 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Playa Fortuna, 26 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: Luquillo 26 km, intensity II · Loíza 29 km, intensity II · Río Grande 30 km, intensity II · Fajardo 31 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 39 km, intensity II · Carolina 39 km, intensity II · Trujillo Alto 45 km, intensity II · San Juan 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,300× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.3× 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 150 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNE 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 18.6025, -65.6698. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SSE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 6 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 1 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  6. 3.4 3 km NNE of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 0 km SSW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 68 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 2 km WNW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 1 km W of San Isidro, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 11 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 49 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.2 3 km NNW of San Juan, 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.