QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 12:57 pm AST (16:57 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Arecibo, PR, at 1:43 am AST on 7 August 2025 (05:43 UTC), 72 km deep.

USGS: 15 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

47 km (29 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR · 116 km (72 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

1:43 am AST, Aug 7, 2025 · · 72 km deep · released about 2,000 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 16 kmIsabela Municipio 21 kmAguada Municipio 28 kmMoca Municipio 28 kmQuebradillas Municipio 29 kmRincón Municipio 34 kmCamuy Municipio 35 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 37 kmAñasco Municipio 38 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
1:43 am AST on 7 August 2025 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
72 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 16 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 461 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 Arecibo, 48 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: Rafael Hernandez, Isabela, Caban, Mora, Aceitunas, Aguadilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 2,000 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× 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 5.1 on 2019-09-24 — about 600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 31 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 10 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 26 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 13 km SW 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 18.6265, -67.1403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 35 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 3 km ESE of Moca, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 11 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 5 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 11 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 4 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 14 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 0 km S of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 37 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 62 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 39 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 2 km ESE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 22 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 20 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.7 57 km NNE of Isabela, 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.