QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 2:40 pm AST (18:40 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 4:19 pm AST on 23 March 2024 (20:19 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 24 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

43 km (27 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 139 km (86 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:19 pm AST, Mar 23, 2024 · · 19 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 24 kmAguadilla Municipio 25 kmAguada Municipio 26 kmMoca Municipio 35 kmAñasco Municipio 37 kmIsabela Municipio 39 kmQuebradillas Municipio 48 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 48 kmHormigueros Municipio 51 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
4:19 pm AST on 23 March 2024 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 24 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 965 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 Rincón, 24 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 24 km, intensity II · Aguada 25 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 26 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 110 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 10 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 24 km ENE 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 18.5218, -67.3777. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela 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. 2.8 3 km SW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 38 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 8 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 25 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 21 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 4 km SSE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 27 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 24 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 15 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 22 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 10 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 1 km WNW of Aguada, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 14 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 23 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 72 km NW of Rincón, 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.