QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Las Ochenta, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Las Ochenta in the 24 hours to 4:40 pm AST (20:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Las Ochenta

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) south of Las Ochenta, PR, at 10:02 pm AST on 12 September 2023 (02:02 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 3 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico

58 km (36 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 32 km (20 mi) E of Ponce, PR

10:02 pm AST, Sep 12, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Las Ochenta Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 7 kmSalinas Municipio 7 kmCoamo Municipio 17 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 18 kmGuayama Municipio 20 kmAibonito Municipio 21 kmCayey Municipio 25 kmVillalba Municipio 25 kmBarranquitas 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
10:02 pm AST on 12 September 2023 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) south of Las Ochenta, PR · earthquakes near Las Ochenta
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 7 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1154 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Las Ochenta, 4 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: Santa Isabel 9 km, intensity II · Coamo 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 5.6 on 2020-01-07 — about 83,000 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 · 40 km NNE 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 17.9502, -66.3247. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) ENE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.1 4 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 5 km ESE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 12 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 10 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 Puerto Rico region

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.