QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 6:04 pm AST (22:04 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 9:04 pm AST on 14 April 2023 (01:04 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 16 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 140 km (87 mi) W of San Juan, PR

9:04 pm AST, Apr 14, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 2.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 16 kmAguada Municipio 22 kmAguadilla Municipio 27 kmAñasco Municipio 30 kmMoca Municipio 33 kmIsabela Municipio 40 kmHormigueros Municipio 42 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 45 kmLas Marías Municipio 48 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
9:04 pm AST on 14 April 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 16 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1307 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 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 16 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: Rincón 16 km, intensity III · Aguada 21 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 25 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 33 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 35 km, intensity II · Isabela 40 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 42 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.2 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 78,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.6× 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 28 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 · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 23 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km NE 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 18.4048, -67.3877. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) ENE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 10 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 42 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 0 km N of Sabana Eneas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 24 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 4 km W of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 3 km E of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km WNW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 40 km NW of San Antonio, 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.