QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near G. L. Garcia, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in G. L. Garcia in the 24 hours to 8:31 am AST (12:31 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 44 km (27 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of G. L. Garcia, PR, at 6:54 pm AST on 18 May 2023 (22:54 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 16 km (10 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

6:54 pm AST, May 18, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 230 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 9 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 12 kmCidra Municipio 13 kmCaguas Municipio 13 kmPatillas Municipio 14 kmArroyo Municipio 14 kmGuayama Municipio 15 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 19 kmAibonito Municipio 21 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
6:54 pm AST on 18 May 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southeast of G. L. Garcia, PR · earthquakes near G. L. Garcia
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 9 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1273 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In G. L. Garcia, 5 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: Cayey 10 km, intensity II · Jagual 11 km, intensity II · Guayama 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 230 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 65,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 46,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 230 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 1,000 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 · 20 km NNW 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 18.0927, -66.0718. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) W earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 16 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 16 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 6 km S of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 1 km WSW of Coquí, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 8 km ENE of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.6 2 km WNW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 2 km NNE of Parcelas La Milagrosa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 1 km W of Juncos, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  12. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.2 6 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.6 6 km S of Emajagua, 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.