QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 12:53 pm AST (16:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Mayagüez, PR, at 5:07 am AST on 16 February 2024 (09:07 UTC), 91 km deep.

USGS: 8 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

9 km (5 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 125 km (77 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

5:07 am AST, Feb 16, 2024 · · 91 km deep · released about 1,600 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 11 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmRincón Municipio 19 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 20 kmSan Germán Municipio 20 kmAguada Municipio 23 kmLas Marías Municipio 26 kmMoca Municipio 27 kmLajas Municipio 28 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
5:07 am AST on 16 February 2024 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
91 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 11 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 999 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Mayagüez, 9 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: Hormigueros, Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, La Playa, Monte Grande, Añasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 75,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 16 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 16 km W 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 18.1698, -67.2168. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 2 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km NW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 2 km N of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 2 km W of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 7 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 1 km SSW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 0 km ENE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 2 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 8 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 3 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 5 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 2 km NNW of Indios, 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.