QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Cayey, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cayey in the 24 hours to 10:45 am AST (14:45 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (3 mi) southeast of Cayey, PR, at 5:18 pm AST on 3 January 2024 (21:18 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico

37 km (23 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 20 km (12 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

5:18 pm AST, Jan 3, 2024 · · 22 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cayey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 4 kmCidra Municipio 11 kmGuayama Municipio 11 kmArroyo Municipio 15 kmAibonito Municipio 16 kmCaguas Municipio 17 kmPatillas Municipio 17 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 18 kmSalinas Municipio 18 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
5:18 pm AST on 3 January 2024 ()
Where
6 km (3 mi) southeast of Cayey, PR · earthquakes near Cayey
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 4 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1043 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 Cayey, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: G. L. Garcia, Parcelas Nuevas, Olimpo, La Plena, Yaurel, Guayama.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 42,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 20 km N 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 18.0765, -66.1285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Caguas 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. 3.0 5 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 6 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 2 km S of Parcelas Peñuelas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 12 km S of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 4 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 3 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 2 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 4 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 4 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 7 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 2 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 3 km ESE of Jauca, 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.