Earthquake near San Sebastián, PR

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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In San Sebastián, 5 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: San Sebastián 5 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 190 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 78,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 55,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.9× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 5.9 on 2020-01-11 — about 110,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km NNW of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918
2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 47 km NW of this epicentre Feb 10, 1920
3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km WNW of this epicentre Oct 25, 1918
4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km NW of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918
5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNW of this epicentre Nov 12, 1918

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 18.3590, -67.0263. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.4 1 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 23:06 UTC
2. 2.9 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico 05:33 UTC
3. 2.4 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 02:03 UTC
4. 3.0 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico 01:52 UTC
5. 2.4 1 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico 00:39 UTC
6. 3.5 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 20:49 UTC
7. 2.4 1 km SSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico 19:39 UTC
8. 3.7 5 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 18:03 UTC
9. 2.0 2 km E of Yauco, Puerto Rico 10:50 UTC
10. 2.4 3 km SSE of Lajas, Puerto Rico 12:00 UTC
11. 2.7 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico 06:50 UTC
12. 2.9 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 15:00 UTC
13. 2.6 7 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico 07:52 UTC
14. 2.6 1 km NNE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico 19:51 UTC
15. 2.7 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico 15:35 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:36 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

• The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
• Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
• ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.