QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Arecibo, PR, at 12:11 am AST on 25 September 2023 (04:11 UTC), 98 km deep.

USGS: 18 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

45 km (28 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR · 113 km (70 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

12:11 am AST, Sep 25, 2023 · · 98 km deep · released about 1.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 20 kmIsabela Municipio 22 kmQuebradillas Municipio 28 kmMoca Municipio 31 kmAguada Municipio 33 kmCamuy Municipio 35 kmRincón Municipio 39 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 39 kmHatillo Municipio 40 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
12:11 am AST on 25 September 2023 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
98 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 20 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1143 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Arecibo, 46 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Isabela, Rafael Hernandez, Mora, Caban, Aceitunas, Aguadilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.2× 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 10 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 27 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 18 km SW 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 18.6582, -67.1050. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) SE earthquakes near Camuy Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 0 km SSW of Añasco, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 0 km NE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 31 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 7 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 19 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 2 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 21 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 51 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 2 km ESE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 49 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 4 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.9 65 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 26 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 35 km N of Carrizales, 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.