QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 6:09 pm AST (22:09 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 99 km (62 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 San Juan

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) north of San Juan, PR, at 3:03 am AST on 12 December 2022 (07:03 UTC), 42 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 24 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico

32 km (20 mi) N of San Juan, PR

3:03 am AST, Dec 12, 2022 · · 42 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Toa Baja Municipio 28 kmCataño Municipio 28 kmDorado Municipio 29 kmSan Juan Municipio 30 kmLoíza Municipio 32 kmCarolina Municipio 36 kmVega Alta Municipio 37 kmGuaynabo Municipio 39 kmBayamón Municipio 39 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
3:03 am AST on 12 December 2022 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) north of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
42 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Toa Baja Municipio, 28 km SSW
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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In San Juan, 25 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: Cataño, Levittown.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 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 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.8× 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 2017-08-18 — about 280 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 48 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 33 km SW 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 18.6905, -66.1047. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) S earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  2. 3.3 49 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.8 23 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 63 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 3 km NNE of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 0 km SSW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 20 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 2 km WNW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 45 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 1 km W of San Isidro, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 3 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 22 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 57 km N of Suárez, 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.