QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Palmarejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Palmarejo in the 24 hours to 4:23 pm AST (20:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 6 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Palmarejo

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Palmarejo, PR, at 5:50 pm AST on 18 April 2023 (21:50 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 0 km S of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico

19 km (12 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR · 114 km (71 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

5:50 pm AST, Apr 18, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palmarejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 8 kmSan Germán Municipio 9 kmHormigueros Municipio 11 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 12 kmSabana Grande Municipio 15 kmGuánica Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 21 kmLas Marías Municipio 23 kmYauco Municipio 24 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
5:50 pm AST on 18 April 2023 ()
Where
in Palmarejo, PR · earthquakes near Palmarejo
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 8 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1303 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 4 km (2 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lajas, Sabana Eneas, San Germán, Monte Grande, La Parguera, Cabo Rojo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 7,700,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 40 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 34 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 18.0397, -67.0768. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  2. 2.3 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  5. 1.7 2 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 7 km WSW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 5 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 6 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 5 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 2 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 2 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.4 3 km WSW of Guánica, 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.