QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Culebra, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Culebra in the last 24 hours. M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) ENE of Culebra, at 6:51 am AST on 11 November 2026 (10:51 UTC); the estimated shaking in Culebra was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Culebra

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) north-northeast of Culebra, PR, at 11:19 pm AST on 16 January 2023 (03:19 UTC), 82 km deep.

USGS: 37 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico

93 km (58 mi) ENE of San Juan, PR

11:19 pm AST, Jan 16, 2023 · · 82 km deep · released about 1.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Culebra Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 36 kmFajardo Municipio 48 kmLuquillo Municipio 60 kmCeiba Municipio 60 kmVieques Municipio 61 kmRío Grande Municipio 68 kmNaguabo Municipio 73 kmCanóvanas Municipio 79 kmLoíza Municipio 80 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
11:19 pm AST on 16 January 2023 ()
Where
38 km (24 mi) north-northeast of Culebra, PR · earthquakes near Culebra
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
82 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 36 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1321 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 Culebra, 38 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.6× 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.6347, -65.2125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) SW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 60 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) WSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.8 49 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.1 23 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.2 36 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.1 69 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 39 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.3 62 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.7 71 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 25 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.3 59 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.8 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.5 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.1 43 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 4.2 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.2 81 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 29 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.