QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, 91 km (56 mi) NE of San Juan, PR, at 5:20 am AST on 7 January 2023 (09:20 UTC), 20 km deep.

91 km (56 mi) NE of San Juan, PR

· 20 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 70 kmLuquillo Municipio 75 kmRío Grande Municipio 78 kmCulebra Municipio 78 kmLoíza Municipio 79 kmCarolina Municipio 85 kmCeiba Municipio 85 kmCanóvanas Municipio 86 kmSan Juan Municipio 90 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
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 70 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1404 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 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.8× 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 280 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 19.0107, -65.4887. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 70 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 75 km (47 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 78 km (48 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 78 km (49 mi) SSE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 79 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 63 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 81 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  5. 3.1 71 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.3 82 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 68 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 86 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  10. 3.4 79 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.4 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.7 61 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.8 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.7 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.4 120 km NNE of Vieques, 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.