QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Maricao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricao in the 24 hours to 10:50 am AST (14:50 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) southeast of Maricao, PR, at 1:52 am AST on 15 January 2023 (05:52 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico

37 km (23 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR · 23 km (14 mi) ESE of Mayagüez, PR

1:52 am AST, Jan 15, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Maricao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maricao Municipio 4 kmSabana Grande Municipio 6 kmYauco Municipio 10 kmLas Marías Municipio 11 kmSan Germán Municipio 11 kmLares Municipio 17 kmHormigueros Municipio 19 kmAdjuntas Municipio 19 kmGuayanilla Municipio 21 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
1:52 am AST on 15 January 2023 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) southeast of Maricao, PR · earthquakes near Maricao
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maricao Municipio, 4 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1396 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricao, 6 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 13 km, intensity II · Yauco 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 710,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 46 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 46 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 18.1403, -66.9365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maricao Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) N earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) S earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lares Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 2 km SSW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 2 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 2 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 1 km SSW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 1 km S of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 7 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 1 km SW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 2 km SSE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.6 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  14. 2.6 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 2 km SSE of Maria Antonia, 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.