QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Cayey, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cayey in the 24 hours to 12:51 pm AST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 38 km (24 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cayey

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Cayey, PR, at 9:12 pm AST on 2 December 2023 (01:12 UTC), 25 km deep.

USGS: 1 km ENE of Cayey, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 18 km (11 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

9:12 pm AST, Dec 2, 2023 · · 25 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cayey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 1 kmCidra Municipio 7 kmAibonito Municipio 12 kmComerío Municipio 14 kmCaguas Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 16 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 16 kmBarranquitas Municipio 19 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 19 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
9:12 pm AST on 2 December 2023 ()
Where
in Cayey, PR · earthquakes near Cayey
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 1 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1028 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. 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: Parcelas Nuevas, G. L. Garcia, Cidra, Parcelas La Milagrosa, La Plena, Vázquez.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 2,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 16 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW 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 18.1148, -66.1548. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) N earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Guayama Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 7 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 5 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 4 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 2 km SSE of Coto Norte, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 1 km SSE of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 5 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 3 km ESE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 5 km S of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 5 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 5 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 4 km SSE of Salinas, 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.