QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 12:52 pm AST (16:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded in Stella, PR, at 12:22 pm AST on 20 February 2023 (16:22 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 0 km NW of Stella, Puerto Rico

18 km (11 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 126 km (78 mi) W of San Juan, PR

12:22 pm AST, Feb 20, 2023 · · 15 km deep · released about 610 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 1 kmAguada Municipio 9 kmAñasco Municipio 13 kmMoca Municipio 19 kmAguadilla Municipio 20 kmHormigueros Municipio 26 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 30 kmIsabela Municipio 30 kmLas Marías Municipio 31 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
12:22 pm AST on 20 February 2023 ()
Where
in Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 1 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1360 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 26 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón in town, intensity III · Aguada 9 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 15 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 18 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 610 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 25,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 610 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 4.9 on 2020-07-03 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 13 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 25 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNE 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 18.3275, -67.2510. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SSE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 3 km W of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.9 1 km NNE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 0 km SSE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.6 7 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 3 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 3 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 4 km ESE of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 2 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 17 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 5 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 4 km E of Hormigueros, 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.