QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 10:40 am AST (14:40 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) east-northeast of San Juan, PR, at 7:23 am AST on 29 December 2022 (11:23 UTC), 35 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

47 km (29 mi) ENE of San Juan, PR · 38 km (24 mi) ENE of Carolina, PR

7:23 am AST, Dec 29, 2022 · · 35 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 22 kmLuquillo Municipio 24 kmRío Grande Municipio 27 kmLoíza Municipio 33 kmCeiba Municipio 36 kmCanóvanas Municipio 36 kmCarolina Municipio 38 kmNaguabo Municipio 41 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 45 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
7:23 am AST on 29 December 2022 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) east-northeast of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
35 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 22 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1413 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In San Juan, 48 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: Luquillo, Playa Fortuna, Vieques, Palmer, Suárez, Hato Candal.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 490 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 490 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 970 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 18.5762, -65.6608. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 27 km (16 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) S earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) SW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 34 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 1 km NE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 42 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 50 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 33 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 13 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.7 71 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 59 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 6 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 1 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.4 3 km NNE of Benitez, 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.