QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 4:28 pm AST (20:28 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR, at 6:12 am AST on 30 September 2023 (10:12 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 25 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

95 km (59 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR · 37 km (23 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR

6:12 am AST, Sep 30, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 26 kmAguada Municipio 33 kmAñasco Municipio 37 kmHormigueros Municipio 41 kmAguadilla Municipio 43 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 44 kmMoca Municipio 44 kmMayagüez Municipio 47 kmSan Germán Municipio 50 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
6:12 am AST on 30 September 2023 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 26 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1138 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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Stella, 25 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: Rincón.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 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 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 260 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 34 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 46 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 18.2688, -67.4813. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 Mona Passage
  2. 2.8 5 km NNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 26 km NW of Rincón, 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.