QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Playita Cortada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Playita Cortada in the 24 hours to 1:46 pm AST (17:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 11 km (7 mi) ENE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Playita Cortada

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Playita Cortada, PR, at 2:35 am AST on 2 September 2024 (06:35 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NW of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico

17 km (11 mi) E of Ponce, PR

2:35 am AST, Sep 2, 2024 · · 11 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Playita Cortada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 3 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 10 kmVillalba Municipio 14 kmCoamo Municipio 15 kmPonce Municipio 16 kmSalinas Municipio 21 kmOrocovis Municipio 24 kmAibonito Municipio 25 kmJayuya Municipio 27 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
2:35 am AST on 2 September 2024 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northwest of Playita Cortada, PR · earthquakes near Playita Cortada
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 3 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 800 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Playita Cortada, 3 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: Río Cañas Abajo 4 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 7 km, intensity II · Coamo 14 km, intensity II · Ponce 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 970,000 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 · 45 km NE 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 18.0050, -66.4598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) WSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Salinas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 14 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 2 km NNW of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 20 km SSW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 2 km SSE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 9 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 5 km SSE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 4 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 10 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.8 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, 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.