QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Maricao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricao in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 33 km (20 mi) SSE, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Maricao

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Maricao, PR, at 11:24 pm AST on 15 May 2023 (03:24 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 13 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) NW of Ponce, PR

11:24 pm AST, May 15, 2023 · · 15 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Maricao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yauco Municipio 8 kmMaricao Municipio 8 kmAdjuntas Municipio 11 kmSabana Grande Municipio 12 kmLares Municipio 14 kmLas Marías Municipio 15 kmGuayanilla Municipio 18 kmSan Germán Municipio 20 kmPeñuelas Municipio 20 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
11:24 pm AST on 15 May 2023 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Maricao, PR · earthquakes near Maricao
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yauco Municipio, 8 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1275 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricao, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Yauco 13 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 14 km, intensity II · Lares 16 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 190 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 640,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 35 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 18.1548, -66.8587. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yauco Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) S earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 0 km SE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 1 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 1 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 7 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 1 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 5 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 2 km SE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 4 km SE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 1 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 20 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 1 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 5 km WSW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 7 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km WSW of Fuig, 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.