QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Cayey, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cayey in the 24 hours to 11:30 am AST (15:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 38 km (24 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cayey

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Cayey, PR, at 1:33 am AST on 18 January 2023 (05:33 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SSW of Cayey, Puerto Rico

38 km (23 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 22 km (14 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

1:33 am AST, Jan 18, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cayey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 4 kmCidra Municipio 10 kmAibonito Municipio 10 kmGuayama Municipio 13 kmSalinas Municipio 15 kmComerío Municipio 16 kmBarranquitas Municipio 19 kmCoamo Municipio 19 kmArroyo Municipio 19 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
1:33 am AST on 18 January 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Cayey, PR · earthquakes near Cayey
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1393 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. In Cayey, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Cayey 3 km, intensity III · Guayama 13 km, intensity III · Sumidero 16 km, intensity II · Coamo 19 km, intensity II · Jagual 21 km, intensity II · Caguas 22 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 27 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,500 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 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 160 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 20 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW 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 18.0842, -66.1797. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 9 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 3 km NNW of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 6 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 8 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 5 km S of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 1 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 2 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 2 km NW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 4 km NW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 20 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 3 km NNE of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 0 km SSW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 0 km N of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 6 km NE of Orocovis, 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.