QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:12 pm AST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Salinas, PR, at 4:22 am AST on 22 February 2024 (08:22 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 0 km WSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico

54 km (33 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 34 km (21 mi) E of Ponce, PR

4:22 am AST, Feb 22, 2024 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 4 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 9 kmCoamo Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 17 kmAibonito Municipio 18 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 20 kmCayey Municipio 21 kmBarranquitas Municipio 25 kmVillalba Municipio 25 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
4:22 am AST on 22 February 2024 ()
Where
in Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 4 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 993 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Las Ochenta, Parcelas Peñuelas, Coco, Mariano Colón, Jauca, Coquí.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 5.6 on 2020-01-07 — about 500,000 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 · 36 km NNE 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 17.9763, -66.3015. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) E earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) W earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 5 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 5 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 1 km SW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 6 km SW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 7 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 2 km WSW of Aibonito, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 3 km S of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 2 km NE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 1 km WNW of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 17 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 4 km E of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 2 km ENE of Magas Arriba, 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.