QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 12:05 pm AST (16:05 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 6:03 am AST on 6 November 2023 (10:03 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

40 km (25 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR · 35 km (22 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

6:03 am AST, Nov 6, 2023 · · 16 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 8 kmGuánica Municipio 9 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 22 kmSan Germán Municipio 22 kmGuayanilla Municipio 23 kmYauco Municipio 24 kmHormigueros Municipio 28 kmMaricao Municipio 29 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
6:03 am AST on 6 November 2023 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 8 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1101 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Ponce, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: La Parguera, Guánica, Fuig, Maria Antonia, Liborio Negron Torres, Palmarejo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 7,400,000 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 17.9152, -66.9960. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 3 km WSW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 2 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 2 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 3 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 1 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 2 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.6 Mona Passage
  8. 3.1 Mona Passage
  9. 2.3 3 km WNW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 3 km SW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 3 km SW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 4 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 3 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 2 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 2 km E of Magas Arriba, 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.