QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Maricao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricao in the 24 hours to 2:47 pm AST (18:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 33 km (20 mi) SSE, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Maricao

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Maricao, PR, at 2:14 am AST on 22 March 2024 (06:14 UTC), 22 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 8 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR · 25 km (16 mi) E of Mayagüez, PR

2:14 am AST, Mar 22, 2024 · · 22 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Maricao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maricao Municipio 4 kmYauco Municipio 10 kmSabana Grande Municipio 10 kmLas Marías Municipio 11 kmLares Municipio 13 kmSan Germán Municipio 15 kmAdjuntas Municipio 15 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 20 kmGuayanilla Municipio 21 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
2:14 am AST on 22 March 2024 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Maricao, PR · earthquakes near Maricao
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Maricao Municipio, 4 km WNW
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 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricao, 8 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: Lares 15 km, intensity II · Yauco 15 km, intensity II · San Germán 18 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 19 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 20 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 21 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 22 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.2× 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 100,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 49 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 49 km W 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 18.1638, -66.9037. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maricao Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lares Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 3 km WSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 1 km W of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 4 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 15 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 2 km NNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 1 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 2 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 8 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 2 km SSW of Peñuelas, 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.