QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Tierras Nuevas Poniente in the 24 hours to 10:49 am AST (14:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 17 km (11 mi) WNW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR, at 12:48 pm AST on 28 April 2024 (16:48 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 29 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

61 km (38 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 37 km (23 mi) NE of Arecibo, PR

12:48 pm AST, Apr 28, 2024 · · 14 km deep · released about 1.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 29 kmManatí Municipio 32 kmVega Baja Municipio 33 kmArecibo Municipio 36 kmVega Alta Municipio 38 kmDorado Municipio 40 kmFlorida Municipio 40 kmHatillo Municipio 43 kmToa Baja Municipio 47 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
12:48 pm AST on 28 April 2024 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR · earthquakes near Tierras Nuevas Poniente
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 29 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 862 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 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 30 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: Barceloneta 31 km, intensity II · Arecibo 35 km, intensity II · Vega Baja 35 km, intensity II · San Antonio 39 km, intensity II · Dorado 41 km, intensity II · Hatillo 41 km, intensity II · Ciales 44 km, intensity II · Levittown 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 19 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 49 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 35 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 42 km NNE 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 18.7288, -66.5285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) SSW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) SE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 36 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 14 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.7 56 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 8 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 23 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 16 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 21 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 20 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 20 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 55 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 26 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 29 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 20 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 6 km NNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 6 km WSW of Estancias de Florida, 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.