QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near El Negro, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in El Negro in the 24 hours to 10:13 am AST (14:13 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) SSE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near El Negro

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) southeast of El Negro, PR, at 5:41 am AST on 3 September 2023 (09:41 UTC), 14 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico

62 km (39 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 45 km (28 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

5:41 am AST, Sep 3, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 140 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Negro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 17 kmYabucoa Municipio 18 kmHumacao Municipio 23 kmPatillas Municipio 26 kmNaguabo Municipio 31 kmLas Piedras Municipio 31 kmArroyo Municipio 31 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 34 kmJuncos 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
5:41 am AST on 3 September 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) southeast of El Negro, PR · earthquakes near El Negro
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 17 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1165 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In El Negro, 16 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: Emajagua 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 140 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 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 75,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 140 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 2021-10-08 — about 3,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9325, -65.7473. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 36 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 2 km SSE of Caguas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  5. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  6. 3.1 10 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 25 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 15 km SSE of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 18 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.7 16 km S of Central Aguirre, 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.