QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Caguas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Caguas in the 24 hours to 5:33 pm AST (21:33 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 81 km (50 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Caguas

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) south-southeast of Caguas, PR, at 10:38 pm AST on 6 January 2023 (02:38 UTC), 6.2 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

57 km (36 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 38 km (24 mi) SSE of Caguas, PR

10:38 pm AST, Jan 6, 2023 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Caguas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 9 kmPatillas Municipio 14 kmYabucoa Municipio 16 kmArroyo Municipio 17 kmHumacao Municipio 27 kmGuayama Municipio 27 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 27 kmLas Piedras Municipio 30 kmJuncos Municipio 34 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
10:38 pm AST on 6 January 2023 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) south-southeast of Caguas, PR · earthquakes near Caguas
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 9 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1405 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Caguas, 39 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: Emajagua 9 km, intensity III · Guayama 25 km, intensity II · Humacao 27 km, intensity II · Jagual 29 km, intensity II · Cayey 36 km, intensity II · Caguas 39 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 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 6.7 280,000× 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 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 in our catalogue was M 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 200 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 17.9177, -65.8887. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 27 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guayama Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 1 km SW of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 2 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 0 km S of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 5 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 3 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.5 19 km SSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 9 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 19 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 5 km S of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 1 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 2 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, 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.