QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 12:51 pm AST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east of Mayagüez, PR, at 9:30 am AST on 14 February 2023 (13:30 UTC), 78 km deep.

USGS: 7 km E of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

8 km (5 mi) E of Mayagüez, PR · 108 km (67 mi) W of San Juan, PR

9:30 am AST, Feb 14, 2023 · · 78 km deep · released about 330 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Marías Municipio 10 kmHormigueros Municipio 10 kmAñasco Municipio 11 kmSan Germán Municipio 12 kmMaricao Municipio 15 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 17 kmMoca Municipio 18 kmSabana Grande Municipio 19 kmAguada Municipio 22 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
9:30 am AST on 14 February 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) east of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
78 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Marías Municipio, 10 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1366 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 Mayagüez, 8 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Espino, Maricao, Hormigueros, Añasco, Las Marias, Sabana Eneas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 330 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 46,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 33,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 330 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 370,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 21 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 32 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 18.2140, -67.0670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Marías Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 3 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 2 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 1 km S of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 4 km S of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 3 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 4 km ESE of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 1 km SW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 4 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 1 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 0 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 2 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 5 km SE 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.