QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Pole Ojea, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pole Ojea in the 24 hours to 12:58 pm AST (16:58 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) ENE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pole Ojea

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Pole Ojea, PR, at 4:12 am AST on 23 February 2024 (08:12 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

29 km (18 mi) SSW of Mayagüez, PR · 133 km (83 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

4:12 am AST, Feb 23, 2024 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 650 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pole Ojea Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cabo Rojo Municipio 7 kmLajas Municipio 20 kmHormigueros Municipio 23 kmSan Germán Municipio 26 kmGuánica Municipio 32 kmSabana Grande Municipio 33 kmAñasco Municipio 38 kmMaricao Municipio 39 kmLas Marías Municipio 40 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
4:12 am AST on 23 February 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Pole Ojea, PR · earthquakes near Pole Ojea
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cabo Rojo Municipio, 7 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 992 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 31 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Pole Ojea, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Pole Ojea 5 km, intensity III · Puerto Real 14 km, intensity III · San Germán 24 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 650 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 23,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 650 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 180,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 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 17.9568, -67.2292. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km SSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 1 km SSE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 2 km WSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 3 km WSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 3 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 6 km W of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.5 24 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 3 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 5 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 3 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 6 km SSW 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.