QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Vega Baja, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vega Baja in the 24 hours to 6:06 pm AST (22:06 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 81 km (51 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vega Baja

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Vega Baja, PR, at 11:09 pm AST on 13 July 2024 (03:09 UTC), 72 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico

39 km (24 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) WNW of Bayamón, PR

11:09 pm AST, Jul 13, 2024 · · 72 km deep · released about 1.8 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Vega Baja Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vega Baja Municipio 5 kmManatí Municipio 9 kmVega Alta Municipio 11 kmBarceloneta Municipio 15 kmDorado Municipio 17 kmMorovis Municipio 20 kmFlorida Municipio 21 kmCorozal Municipio 23 kmToa Alta Municipio 24 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
11:09 pm AST on 13 July 2024 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Vega Baja, PR · earthquakes near Vega Baja
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
72 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vega Baja Municipio, 5 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 782 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Vega Baja, 7 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Coto Norte, Sabana, Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Brenas, Monserrate, Ceiba.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.8 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 92,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.8× 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 33 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 8 km E 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 18.4952, -66.4205. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Morovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 7 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 0 km WNW of Candelaria, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 2 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 6 km WNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 15 km NNW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 5 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 36 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 1 km SE of Naranjito, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 20 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 19 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 7 km SSW of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 1 km NNE of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 36 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 0 km ENE of Parcelas La Milagrosa, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.3 3 km E of Guayabal, 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.