QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 11:30 am AST (15:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north of Arecibo, PR, at 10:04 pm AST on 24 December 2023 (02:04 UTC), 6.8 km deep.

USGS: 16 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

71 km (44 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 19 km (12 mi) NNE of Arecibo, PR

10:04 pm AST, Dec 24, 2023 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 450 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Arecibo Municipio 21 kmBarceloneta Municipio 22 kmHatillo Municipio 23 kmCamuy Municipio 27 kmManatí Municipio 29 kmQuebradillas Municipio 30 kmFlorida Municipio 32 kmVega Baja Municipio 37 kmIsabela Municipio 37 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
10:04 pm AST on 24 December 2023 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) north of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Arecibo Municipio, 21 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1053 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Arecibo, 17 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: Arecibo 17 km, intensity II · Hatillo 21 km, intensity II · Barceloneta 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 450 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 34,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 24,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 450 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 270 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 15 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 47 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 57 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Puerto Rico region · 50 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 18.6242, -66.6963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Arecibo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) S earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 27 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 13 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 25 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 29 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 12 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 3 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 12 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 6 km SSW of Lares, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 36 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 6 km NW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 13 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 54 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 12 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 21 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 11 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 8 km NNW of Sabana, 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.