QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Quebrada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Quebrada in the 24 hours to 10:45 am AST (14:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 52 km (33 mi) NNW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Quebrada

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) south of Quebrada, PR, at 5:23 pm AST on 19 October 2023 (21:23 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 3 km S of Quebrada, Puerto Rico

81 km (50 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 18 km (11 mi) SSW of Arecibo, PR

5:23 pm AST, Oct 19, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Quebrada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lares Municipio 7 kmHatillo Municipio 14 kmUtuado Municipio 14 kmCamuy Municipio 14 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 15 kmAdjuntas Municipio 17 kmLas Marías Municipio 19 kmQuebradillas Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 20 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
5:23 pm AST on 19 October 2023 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) south of Quebrada, PR · earthquakes near Quebrada
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lares Municipio, 7 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1028 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Quebrada, 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: Lares 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 38 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 27 km WNW 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 18.3215, -66.8255. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lares Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Utuado Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Utuado Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Adjuntas 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. 2.2 3 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 7 km NNE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 4 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 1 km SE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 5 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 3 km NW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 1 km NNE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 1 km WSW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 3 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 3 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 4 km W of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 2 km W of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 1 km NE 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.