QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Bajandas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bajandas in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 52 km (32 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bajandas

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bajandas, PR, at 12:02 pm AST on 19 March 2024 (16:02 UTC), 8.1 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico

47 km (29 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 33 km (21 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

12:02 pm AST, Mar 19, 2024 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 94 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bajandas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 5 kmNaguabo Municipio 12 kmYabucoa Municipio 12 kmLas Piedras Municipio 16 kmMaunabo Municipio 19 kmJuncos Municipio 21 kmCeiba Municipio 22 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 24 kmPatillas Municipio 27 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
12:02 pm AST on 19 March 2024 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bajandas, PR · earthquakes near Bajandas
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 5 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 967 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Bajandas, 7 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.

Likely felt in: Humacao 9 km, intensity II · Emajagua 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 2021-10-08 — about 5,100 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 · 44 km WNW 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 18.1038, -65.7528. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 0 km ENE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 1 km S of Canovanas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 6 km NNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 11 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 11 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 3 km SW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 26 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 18 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 10 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 0 km SSE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 5 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 3 km NE of Martorell, 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.