QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Las Piedras, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Las Piedras in the 24 hours to 4:43 pm AST (20:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Las Piedras

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Las Piedras, PR, at 4:41 am AST on 15 March 2025 (08:41 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SSW of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 18 km (11 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

4:41 am AST, Mar 15, 2025 · · 19 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Piedras Municipio 5 kmJuncos Municipio 9 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 9 kmYabucoa Municipio 10 kmHumacao Municipio 11 kmMaunabo Municipio 16 kmGurabo Municipio 17 kmNaguabo Municipio 18 kmCaguas Municipio 18 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
4:41 am AST on 15 March 2025 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Las Piedras, PR · earthquakes near Las Piedras
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Piedras Municipio, 5 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 607 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. In Las Piedras, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: La Fermina, Humacao, Candelero Arriba, Martorell, Comunas, San Lorenzo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 6,500 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 · 29 km WNW 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 18.1478, -65.8892. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NNE earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) E earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 6 km WSW of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 3 km N of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.6 1 km ESE of Carolina, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 1 km E of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 7 km NNE of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.6 1 km SSE of Galateo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 5 km E of Naranjito, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 2 km E of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 5 km SSE of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 3 km ESE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 1 km S of Campanilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 1 km SSE of Salinas, 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.