QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Dorado, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Dorado in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 92 km (57 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dorado

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) north-northeast of Dorado, PR, at 8:18 pm AST on 14 January 2023 (00:18 UTC), 61 km deep.

USGS: 24 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico

33 km (21 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR · 33 km (20 mi) N of Bayamón, PR

8:18 pm AST, Jan 14, 2023 · · 61 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Dorado Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 23 kmToa Baja Municipio 24 kmCataño Municipio 26 kmVega Alta Municipio 30 kmSan Juan Municipio 31 kmVega Baja Municipio 32 kmToa Alta Municipio 35 kmBayamón Municipio 36 kmLoíza Municipio 37 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
8:18 pm AST on 14 January 2023 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) north-northeast of Dorado, PR · earthquakes near Dorado
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
61 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 23 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1397 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 Dorado, 25 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: Levittown, San Juan, Ingenio, Toa Baja, San Antonio, Brenas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 55,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 39,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 1,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 24 km SW 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 18.6730, -66.2043. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SW earthquakes near Vega Baja 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. 2.6 5 km NE of Animas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 59 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 13 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 0 km NNW of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 7 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.9 30 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 63 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 10 km NNW of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 6 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 15 km NE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.3 49 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.4 2 km SE of Aguas Buenas, 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.