Earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR

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 50 km (31 mi) from the epicentre. In Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 9 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: Barceloneta 11 km, intensity III · Vega Baja 16 km, intensity III · Ciales 24 km, intensity II · San Antonio 24 km, intensity II · Arecibo 24 km, intensity II · Dorado 27 km, intensity II · Corozal 30 km, intensity II · Hatillo 35 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.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,800× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,100× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.7× 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 2017-08-18 — about 180 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 7 km WNW of this epicentre Oct 12, 1918
2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 18 km ESE of this epicentre Jun 17, 1975

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 18.5457, -66.5018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 3.0 17 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico 14:08 UTC
2. 2.1 3 km NNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico 05:30 UTC
3. 2.8 34 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico 22:12 UTC
4. 2.7 16 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico 11:07 UTC
5. 1.9 3 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico 17:29 UTC
6. 2.7 11 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico 12:37 UTC
7. 3.0 36 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 15:37 UTC
8. 3.1 35 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 15:30 UTC
9. 2.8 10 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico 22:06 UTC
10. 2.8 3 km N of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico 14:27 UTC
11. 2.6 5 km NNW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico 13:49 UTC
12. 2.9 2 km SE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico 07:45 UTC
13. 2.7 5 km N of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico 08:33 UTC
14. 2.9 46 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico 00:58 UTC
15. 2.8 41 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico 12:35 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 00:11 UTC. 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.