QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 10:43 am AST (14:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 99 km (62 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Juan

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) west-northwest of San Juan, PR, at 5:54 pm AST on 15 October 2023 (21:54 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

50 km (31 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 30 km (18 mi) ENE of Arecibo, PR

5:54 pm AST, Oct 15, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 890 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 15 kmManatí Municipio 16 kmVega Baja Municipio 18 kmVega Alta Municipio 24 kmFlorida Municipio 26 kmArecibo Municipio 26 kmDorado Municipio 28 kmMorovis Municipio 31 kmCiales Municipio 33 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
5:54 pm AST on 15 October 2023 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) west-northwest of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 15 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1123 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 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In San Juan, 43 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: Barceloneta 16 km, intensity II · Vega Baja 20 km, intensity II · San Antonio 26 km, intensity II · Arecibo 27 km, intensity II · Dorado 28 km, intensity II · Ciales 28 km, intensity II · Corozal 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 in our catalogue was M 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 540 times the energy of this one.

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 18.5907, -66.4938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SSW earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 27 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 5 km WSW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 32 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 7 km NNE of Utuado, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 51 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 2 km SSE of Coto Norte, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 1 km SSE of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 63 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 3 km ESE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 16 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 5 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 3 km NW of Orocovis, 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.