QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Levittown, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Levittown in the 24 hours to 12:52 pm AST (16:52 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 99 km (61 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Levittown

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) northwest of Levittown, PR, at 2:23 am AST on 3 January 2026 (06:23 UTC), 101 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NW of Levittown, Puerto Rico

16 km (10 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 10 km (6 mi) NNW of Bayamón, PR

2:23 am AST, Jan 3, 2026 · · 101 km deep · released about 550 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Toa Baja Municipio 1 kmCataño Municipio 6 kmDorado Municipio 7 kmToa Alta Municipio 12 kmBayamón Municipio 13 kmSan Juan Municipio 15 kmVega Alta Municipio 15 kmGuaynabo Municipio 16 kmNaranjito Municipio 20 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
2:23 am AST on 3 January 2026 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) northwest of Levittown, PR · earthquakes near Levittown
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
101 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Toa Baja Municipio, 1 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 312 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 Levittown, 2 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: Ingenio, Sabana Seca, Candelaria Arenas, Campanilla, Candelaria, Toa Baja.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 550 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 28,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 550 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 220 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 · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 24 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 15 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 18.4630, -66.1997. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) SE earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 1 km NE of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 1 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 1 km W of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 4 km ESE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 17 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 2 km WSW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 2 km SSW of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 0 km WSW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 0 km SW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km NNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 5 km W of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 16 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 8 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 1 km SW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 7 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, 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.