QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Jagual, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jagual in the 24 hours to 9:54 am AST (13:54 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 73 km (45 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 Jagual

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south of Jagual, PR, at 8:48 pm AST on 18 April 2023 (00:48 UTC), 70 km deep.

USGS: 5 km S of Jagual, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) SSE of Caguas, PR · 34 km (21 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR

8:48 pm AST, Apr 18, 2023 · · 70 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jagual Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Lorenzo Municipio 5 kmPatillas Municipio 12 kmCaguas Municipio 13 kmYabucoa Municipio 15 kmLas Piedras Municipio 16 kmJuncos Municipio 16 kmMaunabo Municipio 16 kmArroyo Municipio 16 kmCayey Municipio 17 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
8:48 pm AST on 18 April 2023 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south of Jagual, PR · earthquakes near Jagual
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
70 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Lorenzo Municipio, 5 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1305 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Jagual, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: San Lorenzo, Rosa Sanchez, Martorell, Yaurel, Playita, Patillas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 780 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 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 310 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 · 22 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 18.1090, -65.9938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Juncos Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 1 km W of Juncos, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  3. 3.2 6 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  5. 2.6 6 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.6 0 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 8 km NNW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 1 km E of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.3 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 23 km SSE of Arroyo, 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.