QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Ramos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ramos in the 24 hours to 8:30 am AST (12:30 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 58 km (36 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ramos

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Ramos, PR, at 8:46 pm AST on 23 January 2023 (00:46 UTC), 128 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5 km SSW of Ramos, Puerto Rico

36 km (22 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 28 km (18 mi) ESE of Carolina, PR

8:46 pm AST, Jan 23, 2023 · · 128 km deep · released about 1.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Ramos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Luquillo Municipio 8 kmNaguabo Municipio 10 kmRío Grande Municipio 11 kmCeiba Municipio 14 kmCanóvanas Municipio 16 kmLas Piedras Municipio 19 kmHumacao Municipio 19 kmFajardo Municipio 19 kmJuncos Municipio 20 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
8:46 pm AST on 23 January 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Ramos, PR · earthquakes near Ramos
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
128 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Luquillo Municipio, 8 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1310 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 Ramos, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Duque, Luquillo, Palmer, Playa Fortuna, Naguabo, Hato Candal.

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 6.7 100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,200× 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 3.5× 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 2021-10-08 — about 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 42 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 18.2983, -65.7407. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Luquillo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 33 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 13 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 9 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 4 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 0 km NNW of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 2 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 5 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 3 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.9 1 km W of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.9 9 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 19 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 6 km ENE 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.