QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 7:53 pm AST (23:53 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Mayagüez, PR, at 1:02 pm AST on 18 March 2023 (17:02 UTC), 20 km deep.

USGS: 3 km ESE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

in Mayagüez, PR · 113 km (70 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

1:02 pm AST, Mar 18, 2023 · · 20 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 5 kmSan Germán Municipio 11 kmAñasco Municipio 12 kmLas Marías Municipio 15 kmMaricao Municipio 18 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 22 kmMoca Municipio 22 kmSan Sebastián 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
1:02 pm AST on 18 March 2023 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 5 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1334 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 4 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.

Likely felt in: Mayagüez 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 25 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 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 18.1815, -67.1082. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) S earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Sabana Grande 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. 1.7 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 4 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.3 9 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 16 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 5 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  12. 1.6 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.4 7 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 2 km WNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 5 km WSW of Gu?nica, 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.