QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 12:57 pm AST (16:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of La Parguera, PR, at 5:09 am AST on 24 October 2023 (09:09 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

26 km (16 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR · 119 km (74 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

5:09 am AST, Oct 24, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 320 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 6 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 10 kmSan Germán Municipio 17 kmGuánica Municipio 18 kmHormigueros Municipio 19 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmYauco Municipio 28 kmMaricao Municipio 28 kmLas Marías Municipio 31 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
5:09 am AST on 24 October 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 6 km ENE
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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 5 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: Pole Ojea 10 km, intensity II · San Germán 14 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 320 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 34,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 320 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 380,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 38 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 37 km NW 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 17.9680, -67.0930. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km NE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 3 km WSW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 3 km ENE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  5. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.2 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 2 km WNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 1 km NNW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 10 km SSE of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 1 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 3 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 1 km E of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km NNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 2 km S 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.