QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Las Piedras, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Las Piedras in the 24 hours to 12:55 am AST (04:55 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 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 Las Piedras

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) southwest of Las Piedras, PR, at 11:42 am AST on 20 May 2024 (15:42 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SW of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico

32 km (20 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 16 km (10 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

11:42 am AST, May 20, 2024 · · 23 km deep · released about 1,400 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Las Piedras Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Piedras Municipio 6 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 7 kmJuncos Municipio 8 kmYabucoa Municipio 12 kmHumacao Municipio 13 kmGurabo Municipio 15 kmCaguas Municipio 16 kmMaunabo Municipio 17 kmPatillas Municipio 19 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
11:42 am AST on 20 May 2024 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) southwest of Las Piedras, PR · earthquakes near Las Piedras
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Piedras Municipio, 6 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 905 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Las Piedras, 6 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 · Jagual 9 km, intensity II · Emajagua 17 km, intensity II · Caguas 17 km, intensity II · Sumidero 24 km, intensity II · Trujillo Alto 25 km, intensity II · Carolina 26 km, intensity II · Río Grande 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,400 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 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 170 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 · 27 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 18.1513, -65.9117. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 10 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 7 km SSW of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 5 km SSE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 1 km NW of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 0 km ENE of Parcelas La Milagrosa, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 9 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 0 km ENE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 6 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.4 1 km S of Canovanas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 6 km NNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 11 km SE of Emajagua, 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.