QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Brenas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Brenas in the 24 hours to 2:23 am AST (06:23 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 87 km (54 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 Brenas

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north of Brenas, PR, at 6:06 pm AST on 31 January 2026 (22:06 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 10 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) NW of Bayamón, PR

6:06 pm AST, Jan 31, 2026 · · 22 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Brenas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 13 kmVega Baja Municipio 13 kmVega Alta Municipio 14 kmToa Baja Municipio 19 kmManatí Municipio 20 kmToa Alta Municipio 24 kmCataño Municipio 24 kmBarceloneta Municipio 25 kmMorovis Municipio 28 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
6:06 pm AST on 31 January 2026 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north of Brenas, PR · earthquakes near Brenas
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 13 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 284 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Brenas, 10 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.

Likely felt in: San Antonio 13 km, intensity II · Vega Baja 14 km, intensity II · Dorado 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 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 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 930 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 · 23 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 6 km S 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 18.5582, -66.3428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) SW earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSE earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 15 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 7 km WSW of Naranjito, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 16 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 2 km ENE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 10 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 8 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 1 km SSW of Candelaria Arenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 3 km ESE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 13 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 5 km N of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 1 km SSW of Animas, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 13 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  13. 4.2 2 km SW of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 40 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 24 km N of Arecibo, 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.