QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Coamo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Coamo in the 24 hours to 10:45 am AST (14:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) S, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coamo

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Coamo, PR, at 1:09 pm AST on 15 October 2023 (17:09 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 7 km NNW of Coamo, Puerto Rico

46 km (29 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 29 km (18 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

1:09 pm AST, Oct 15, 2023 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 44 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coamo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Coamo Municipio 6 kmVillalba Municipio 8 kmOrocovis Municipio 10 kmBarranquitas Municipio 11 kmAibonito Municipio 14 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 19 kmCorozal Municipio 20 kmMorovis Municipio 20 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 21 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
1:09 pm AST on 15 October 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Coamo, PR · earthquakes near Coamo
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Coamo Municipio, 6 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1123 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 Coamo, 8 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: Coamo 8 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 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 44 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 2,700,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 41 km N 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 18.1403, -66.3980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Coamo Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) W earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Barranquitas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Barranquitas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 0 km NE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 1 km NE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.5 1 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 2 km W of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  7. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.4 2 km NNE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  10. 2.1 1 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 1 km WSW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 4 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 1 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 0 km NE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 1 km N of Indios, 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.