QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Capitanejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Capitanejo in the 24 hours to 12:17 pm AST (16:17 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Capitanejo

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Capitanejo, PR, at 4:51 pm AST on 16 July 2023 (20:51 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 0 km NE of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

4:51 pm AST, Jul 16, 2023 · · 15 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Capitanejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 4 kmPonce Municipio 9 kmVillalba Municipio 14 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 16 kmCoamo Municipio 20 kmPeñuelas Municipio 21 kmJayuya Municipio 22 kmOrocovis Municipio 24 kmSalinas Municipio 28 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
4:51 pm AST on 16 July 2023 ()
Where
in Capitanejo, PR · earthquakes near Capitanejo
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 4 km ESE
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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Río Cañas Abajo 7 km, intensity II · Ponce 10 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 14 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 78,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 55,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.9× 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 620,000 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 · 49 km ENE 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 18.0193, -66.5265. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) W earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 0 km NNE of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 4 km SSE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 2 km E of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 4 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 3 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.4 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  10. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.8 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 2 km N of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 2 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 0 km NNE of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 6 km WSW of Guánica, 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.