QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Tierras Nuevas Poniente in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 17 km (11 mi) WNW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR, at 7:41 pm AST on 5 May 2025 (23:41 UTC), 109 km deep.

USGS: 2 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

45 km (28 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) E of Arecibo, PR

7:41 pm AST, May 5, 2025 · · 109 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Manatí Municipio 5 kmBarceloneta Municipio 8 kmVega Baja Municipio 10 kmFlorida Municipio 16 kmVega Alta Municipio 17 kmMorovis Municipio 20 kmArecibo Municipio 21 kmCiales Municipio 22 kmDorado 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
7:41 pm AST on 5 May 2025 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR · earthquakes near Tierras Nuevas Poniente
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
109 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Manatí Municipio, 5 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 555 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 Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 Luisa, Manatí, Barceloneta, Coto Norte, Imbery, Garrochales.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 130 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 · 12 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 15 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 18.4873, -66.4850. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Manatí Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Morovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1 km WNW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 2 km N of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 40 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 31 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 3 km SW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 3 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.5 9 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 3 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km ESE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 2 km ESE of Sabana Hoyos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 2 km NNW of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 8 km E of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 22 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 26 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 8 km NE of Dorado, 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.