Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.3md
Earthquake near Esperanza, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 9:03 am AST (13:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza
This page: a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 11:10 pm AST on 13 September 2025 (03:10 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 16 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
64 km (40 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 51 km (32 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR
- When
- 11:10 pm AST on 13 September 2025 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
- Magnitude
- M 3.3 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Vieques Municipio, 22 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 343 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Esperanza, PR
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 49 km (30 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 16 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Esperanza 16 km, intensity III · Isabel Segunda 22 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 26 km, intensity II · Humacao 27 km, intensity II · Emajagua 29 km, intensity II · Fajardo 34 km, intensity II · Luquillo 40 km, intensity II · Jagual 44 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,300× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.6× 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 190 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 18.0252, -65.6070. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vieques Municipio, PR | 22 km (13 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Vieques Municipio |
| Humacao Municipio, PR | 23 km (14 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Humacao Municipio |
| Naguabo Municipio, PR | 25 km (15 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio |
| Ceiba Municipio, PR | 25 km (16 mi) | N | earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio |
| Yabucoa Municipio, PR | 27 km (17 mi) | W | earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio |
| Maunabo Municipio, PR | 31 km (19 mi) | W | earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 11 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 21 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.7 29 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 11 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 30 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 5 km W of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 7 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 30 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 19 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 9 km SSE of Daguao, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 2 km SW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 4 km SE of Jagual, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 29 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 9 km S of Emajagua, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.