QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, 96 km (60 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR, at 9:05 pm AST on 22 November 2023 (01:05 UTC), 20 km deep.

96 km (60 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR

· 20 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 79 kmVega Baja Municipio 80 kmManatí Municipio 81 kmDorado Municipio 81 kmVega Alta Municipio 83 kmArecibo Municipio 85 kmToa Baja Municipio 85 kmHatillo Municipio 88 kmCataño Municipio 88 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
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 79 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1085 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 370 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 19.1740, -66.4813. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 81 km (50 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 81 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 64 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 76 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 82 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.6 79 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 68 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 97 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 29 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 69 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.7 97 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 52 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 66 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.3 92 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 70 km N of Isabela, 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.