QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Pole Ojea, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pole Ojea in the 24 hours to 5:30 pm AST (21:30 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) ENE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pole Ojea

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) west of Pole Ojea, PR, at 12:59 pm AST on 26 December 2022 (16:59 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

USGS: 27 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

86 km (54 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 42 km (26 mi) SW of Mayagüez, PR

12:59 pm AST, Dec 26, 2022 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pole Ojea Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cabo Rojo Municipio 28 kmHormigueros Municipio 40 kmLajas Municipio 42 kmSan Germán Municipio 46 kmRincón Municipio 48 kmMayagüez Municipio 50 kmAñasco Municipio 50 kmSabana Grande Municipio 54 kmGuánica Municipio 55 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
12:59 pm AST on 26 December 2022 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) west of Pole Ojea, PR · earthquakes near Pole Ojea
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cabo Rojo Municipio, 28 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1416 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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Pole Ojea, 27 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: Pole Ojea 27 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 30 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,500 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× 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 5.3 on 2020-07-03 — about 1,800 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 26 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 17.9468, -67.4393. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 46 km (29 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 2 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 3 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 2 km S of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.4 3 km W of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 5 km N of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 1 km SSE of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 4 km SSW of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.1 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 1 km ENE of Mayag?ez, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 3 km S of Monte Grande, 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.