QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Yaurel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yaurel in the 24 hours to 11:27 am AST (15:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 42 km (26 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yaurel

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Yaurel, PR, at 7:34 am AST on 12 August 2024 (11:34 UTC), 7.9 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico

37 km (23 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 18 km (11 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

7:34 am AST, Aug 12, 2024 · · 7.9 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yaurel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 8 kmArroyo Municipio 12 kmGuayama Municipio 12 kmPatillas Municipio 13 kmCidra Municipio 14 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 14 kmCaguas Municipio 16 kmAibonito Municipio 20 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 21 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
7:34 am AST on 12 August 2024 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Yaurel, PR · earthquakes near Yaurel
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 8 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 821 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Yaurel, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Cayey 9 km, intensity III · Guayama 10 km, intensity III · Jagual 14 km, intensity III · Sumidero 17 km, intensity III · Caguas 18 km, intensity II · Emajagua 23 km, intensity II · Humacao 29 km, intensity II · Coamo 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 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 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 180 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 · 21 km NNW 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 18.0745, -66.0860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 4 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 4 km WNW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 4 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 3 km E of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 18 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 18 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 24 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 13 km SW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 29 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 2 km W of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 2 km E of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 4 km NNW of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 11 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 5 km NNW of Jagual, 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.