QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Punta Santiago, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Punta Santiago in the 24 hours to 10:10 am AST (14:10 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 49 km (31 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Punta Santiago

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Punta Santiago, PR, at 8:25 pm AST on 2 April 2023 (00:25 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2 km NNW of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico

40 km (25 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 30 km (18 mi) E of Caguas, PR

8:25 pm AST, Apr 2, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Punta Santiago Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Naguabo Municipio 4 kmHumacao Municipio 6 kmLas Piedras Municipio 11 kmJuncos Municipio 16 kmCeiba Municipio 17 kmYabucoa Municipio 17 kmCanóvanas Municipio 21 kmLuquillo Municipio 21 kmRío Grande Municipio 21 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
8:25 pm AST on 2 April 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Punta Santiago, PR · earthquakes near Punta Santiago
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Naguabo Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1028 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 29 km (18 mi) from the epicentre. In Punta Santiago, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Humacao 8 km, intensity III · Aguas Claras 14 km, intensity II · Fajardo 19 km, intensity II · Luquillo 21 km, intensity II · Río Grande 23 km, intensity II · Emajagua 24 km, intensity II · Jagual 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 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 15,000× 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 700 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 680 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 · 40 km WNW 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 18.1870, -65.7623. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Naguabo Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa 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. 2.5 16 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 6 km S of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.6 2 km WNW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 2 km NNE of Parcelas La Milagrosa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 1 km W of Juncos, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  8. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.6 6 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 5 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 1 km E of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 23 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 2 km E of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 1 km ENE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 12 km SSE of Arroyo, 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.