QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 27 km (17 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR, at 4:24 am AST on 2 December 2023 (08:24 UTC), 14 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

27 km (17 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 143 km (89 mi) W of San Juan, PR

· 14 km deep · released about 800 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 30 kmHormigueros Municipio 31 kmAguada Municipio 31 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 32 kmSan Germán Municipio 39 kmMoca Municipio 40 kmAguadilla Municipio 42 kmLajas Municipio 45 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 3.0 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 23 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1075 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 31 km (19 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 23 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 26 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 28 km, intensity II · Aguada 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 800 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 4.9 on 2020-07-03 — about 840 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 18.1895, -67.3998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 4 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 31 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 8 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 5 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 4 km SW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 7 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 6 km WSW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 2 km WNW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 12 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 2 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 2 km E of La Parguera, 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.