QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Garrochales, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Garrochales in the 24 hours to 10:13 am AST (14:13 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 12 km (7 mi) NW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Garrochales

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north of Garrochales, PR, at 12:14 am AST on 16 July 2023 (04:14 UTC), 5.5 km deep.

USGS: 19 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico

60 km (37 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 25 km (16 mi) NE of Arecibo, PR

12:14 am AST, Jul 16, 2023 · · 5.5 km deep · released about 530 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Garrochales Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 17 kmManatí Municipio 22 kmArecibo Municipio 23 kmVega Baja Municipio 27 kmFlorida Municipio 29 kmHatillo Municipio 31 kmVega Alta Municipio 33 kmCamuy Municipio 36 kmCiales Municipio 37 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
12:14 am AST on 16 July 2023 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) north of Garrochales, PR · earthquakes near Garrochales
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 17 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1214 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 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Garrochales, 19 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: Barceloneta 20 km, intensity II · Arecibo 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 530 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 900 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 7 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 29 km ESE 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 18.6255, -66.5810. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 23 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) SW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 4 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 17 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 26 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.5 3 km WSW of Manatí, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 35 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 20 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 3 km W of Cayuco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 16 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 39 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 3 km S of Quebrada, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 1 km N of Quebrada, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 11 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.1 52 km N of Brenas, 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.