QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 2:36 pm AST (18:36 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Ponce, PR, at 4:26 pm AST on 28 December 2022 (20:26 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

15 km (10 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

4:26 pm AST, Dec 28, 2022 · · 17 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 4 kmGuayanilla Municipio 5 kmYauco Municipio 11 kmAdjuntas Municipio 16 kmPonce Municipio 17 kmGuánica Municipio 19 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmMaricao Municipio 24 kmUtuado Municipio 27 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
4:26 pm AST on 28 December 2022 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 4 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1414 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 Ponce, 15 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: Magas Arriba, Santo Domingo, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Tallaboa, Tallaboa Alta.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 15,000,000 times the energy of this one.

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 18.0373, -66.7645. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guánica 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. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  2. 2.3 0 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 2 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 4 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 2 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 3 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 2 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 5 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.8 5 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 2 km S of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  14. 1.9 2 km N of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 1 km SSW of Guánica, 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.