QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Coto Laurel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Coto Laurel in the 24 hours to 4:33 pm AST (20:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coto Laurel

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Coto Laurel, PR, at 12:32 pm AST on 18 January 2025 (16:32 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 0 km NE of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico

10 km (6 mi) NE of Ponce, PR

12:32 pm AST, Jan 18, 2025 · · 19 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coto Laurel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 9 kmPonce Municipio 9 kmVillalba Municipio 11 kmJayuya Municipio 18 kmPeñuelas Municipio 20 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 20 kmCoamo Municipio 21 kmOrocovis Municipio 21 kmAdjuntas 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
12:32 pm AST on 18 January 2025 ()
Where
in Coto Laurel, PR · earthquakes near Coto Laurel
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 9 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 662 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Luis Llorens Torres, Aguilita, Juana Díaz, Capitanejo, Guayabal, Río Cañas Abajo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 1,600,000 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 · 49 km ENE 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 18.0555, -66.5453. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) SE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) W earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 2 km NE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 2 km WNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 4 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 2 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 1 km SE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 2 km S of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 5 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 1 km N of Guayanilla, 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.