QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Maricao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricao in the 24 hours to 10:57 am AST (14:57 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 33 km (20 mi) SSE, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Maricao

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Maricao, PR, at 5:19 am AST on 4 January 2023 (09:19 UTC), 25 km deep.

USGS: 2 km WSW of Maricao, Puerto Rico

15 km (9 mi) ESE of Mayagüez, PR · 103 km (64 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

5:19 am AST, Jan 4, 2023 · · 25 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Maricao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Marías Municipio 7 kmMaricao Municipio 7 kmSan Germán Municipio 8 kmSabana Grande Municipio 12 kmHormigueros Municipio 13 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 18 kmLares Municipio 18 kmAñasco Municipio 18 kmYauco Municipio 18 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
5:19 am AST on 4 January 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Maricao, PR · earthquakes near Maricao
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Marías Municipio, 7 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1341 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 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricao, 3 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: San Germán 11 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 15 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 18 km, intensity II · Lares 19 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 22 km, intensity II · Yauco 23 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 28 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 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 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 92,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 39 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 39 km W 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 18.1750, -67.0045. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Marías Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NNE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) E earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Sebastián 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. 2.0 6 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 3 km N of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 3 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 3 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.2 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  10. 2.1 2 km S of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 14 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 4 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 9 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 5 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 6 km NNE of Yauco, 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.