QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 4:25 pm AST (20:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 20 km (13 mi) southwest of Stella, PR, at 1:04 am AST on 20 March 2024 (05:04 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 20 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico

28 km (17 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 143 km (89 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:04 am AST, Mar 20, 2024 · · 18 km deep · released about 1.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 21 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmAñasco Municipio 30 kmHormigueros Municipio 32 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 34 kmMoca Municipio 38 kmAguadilla Municipio 40 kmSan Germán Municipio 40 kmLas Marías Municipio 45 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
1:04 am AST on 20 March 2024 ()
Where
20 km (13 mi) southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 3.3 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 21 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 898 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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Stella, 20 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: Rincón 21 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 28 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 28 km, intensity II · Aguada 29 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 35 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 35 km, intensity II · San Germán 41 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 44 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.5× 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 4.5 on 2021-07-18 — about 63 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 44 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 5 km SE 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 18.2163, -67.4018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 10 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 4.0 35 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 4 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 41 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 8 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 4 km W of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 12 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 24 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 30 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 3 km NNE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 12 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 1 km SW of La Parguera, 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.