QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, 72 km (44 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR, at 8:47 pm AST on 19 January 2023 (00:47 UTC), 20 km deep.

72 km (44 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR

· 20 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 55 kmVega Baja Municipio 55 kmDorado Municipio 55 kmManatí Municipio 56 kmVega Alta Municipio 58 kmToa Baja Municipio 60 kmArecibo Municipio 62 kmCataño Municipio 63 kmFlorida Municipio 66 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 55 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1391 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 25 km (16 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 in our catalogue was M 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 710 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 18.9455, -66.4312. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) SSW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) SSE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 54 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 70 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 15 km NE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  5. 3.3 49 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 78 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  8. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.9 87 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 23 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 63 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.5 20 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.5 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 82 km N of San Juan, 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.