QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 12:11 pm AST (16:11 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 2:34 pm AST on 23 October 2023 (18:34 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

82 km (51 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR

2:34 pm AST, Oct 23, 2023 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 10 kmCulebra Municipio 32 kmCeiba Municipio 34 kmNaguabo Municipio 41 kmFajardo Municipio 43 kmHumacao Municipio 44 kmLuquillo Municipio 50 kmYabucoa Municipio 50 kmLas Piedras Municipio 54 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
2:34 pm AST on 23 October 2023 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 10 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1115 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 11 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: Esperanza 11 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.0478, -65.3833. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 10 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.7 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 11 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 16 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 11 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 11 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 0 km SSE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 5 km SE of El Negro, 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.