QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 2:35 am AST (06:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR, at 11:43 pm AST on 23 May 2023 (03:43 UTC), 5.3 km deep.

USGS: 31 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

95 km (59 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR · 38 km (24 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR

11:43 pm AST, May 23, 2023 · · 5.3 km deep · released about 1.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 32 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 39 kmAguada Municipio 40 kmHormigueros Municipio 41 kmAñasco Municipio 41 kmMayagüez Municipio 42 kmSan Germán Municipio 49 kmMoca Municipio 50 kmAguadilla Municipio 51 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
11:43 pm AST on 23 May 2023 ()
Where
38 km (24 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 3.3 (md)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 32 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1268 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 50 km (31 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 38 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: Rincón 32 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 35 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 38 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 40 km, intensity II · Aguada 40 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 46 km, intensity II · San Germán 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.5× 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 4.5 on 2021-07-18 — about 61 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 43 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 km E 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 18.1710, -67.5008. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 50 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 66 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.9 13 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 32 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 13 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 5 km ESE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 4 km WSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 3 km N of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 3 km SE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 4 km ESE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 Mona Passage
  12. 2.7 Mona Passage
  13. 2.9 1 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.4 4 km ENE of Pole Ojea, 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.