QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Aguas Buenas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Buenas in the 24 hours to 6:41 am AST (10:41 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 87 km (54 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 Aguas Buenas

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) southeast of Aguas Buenas, PR, at 6:14 pm AST on 13 April 2023 (22:14 UTC), 18 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico

5 km (3 mi) W of Caguas, PR

6:14 pm AST, Apr 13, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 1.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 5 kmCaguas Municipio 5 kmCidra Municipio 11 kmGuaynabo Municipio 12 kmGurabo Municipio 12 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 14 kmComerío Municipio 14 kmBayamón Municipio 15 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 16 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
6:14 pm AST on 13 April 2023 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) southeast of Aguas Buenas, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Buenas
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 5 km WNW
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 53 km (33 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguas Buenas, 2 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: Caguas 4 km, intensity III · Sumidero 5 km, intensity III · Jagual 13 km, intensity III · Guaynabo 13 km, intensity III · Trujillo Alto 15 km, intensity III · Cayey 16 km, intensity II · Bayamón 19 km, intensity II · Carolina 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,100× 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 3.6× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 70 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 5 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 39 km NW 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 18.2403, -66.0887. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  2. 3.3 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 22 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 2 km E of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 1 km ENE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 12 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 7 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 1 km NE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 4 km WNW of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 1 km NE of La Plena, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 3 km NE of La Plena, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 2 km SW of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  14. 2.3 8 km W of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km ESE of Salinas, 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.