QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

68 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 68 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico, 87 km (54 mi) NE of San Juan, PR, at 4:22 pm AST on 3 March 2024 (20:22 UTC), 10.0 km deep.

87 km (54 mi) NE of San Juan, PR

· 10.0 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 64 kmLuquillo Municipio 69 kmCulebra Municipio 71 kmRío Grande Municipio 72 kmLoíza Municipio 75 kmCeiba Municipio 79 kmCarolina Municipio 81 kmCanóvanas Municipio 82 kmSan Juan Municipio 86 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
10.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 64 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 983 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 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 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 700 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 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 680 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 7 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 18.9482, -65.4680. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 71 km (44 mi) SSE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 75 km (47 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 59 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 81 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 43 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 71 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 74 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.0 88 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 61 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.1 49 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 51 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 57 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.2 100 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 69 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 77 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 31 km NE of Vieques, 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.