QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Central Aguirre, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Central Aguirre in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Central Aguirre

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) south of Central Aguirre, PR, at 3:51 pm AST on 15 January 2026 (19:51 UTC), 26 km deep.

USGS: 49 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico

3:51 pm AST, Jan 15, 2026 · · 26 km deep · released about 550 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Central Aguirre Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 49 kmSalinas Municipio 51 kmGuayama Municipio 54 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 57 kmArroyo Municipio 58 kmPonce Municipio 63 kmPatillas Municipio 63 kmCoamo Municipio 65 kmCayey Municipio 67 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
3:51 pm AST on 15 January 2026 ()
Where
49 km (31 mi) south of Central Aguirre, PR · earthquakes near Central Aguirre
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 49 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 300 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Central Aguirre, 49 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.

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 4.6 on 2019-03-12 — about 440 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 17.5175, -66.3058. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 49 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 51 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 54 km (33 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 57 km (35 mi) NNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 3 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 2 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.5 6 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 23 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 3 km SSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 5 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 5 km WSW of Central Aguirre, 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.