QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Puerto Real, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Puerto Real in the 24 hours to 3:19 pm AST (19:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Puerto Real

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) west-northwest of Puerto Real, PR, at 10:59 am AST on 16 August 2026 (14:59 UTC), 7.4 km deep.

USGS: 16 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

21 km (13 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 137 km (85 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

10:59 am AST, Aug 16, 2026 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Puerto Real Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 22 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 23 kmRincón Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 26 kmAguada Municipio 30 kmSan Germán Municipio 31 kmLajas Municipio 36 kmMoca Municipio 37 kmLas Marías Municipio 38 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
10:59 am AST on 16 August 2026 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) west-northwest of Puerto Real, PR · earthquakes near Puerto Real
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 22 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 74 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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Puerto Real, 17 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: Puerto Real 17 km, intensity III · Mayagüez 21 km, intensity II · Rincón 23 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 24 km, intensity II · Aguada 30 km, intensity II · San Germán 31 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 36 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 41 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 5.3 on 2020-07-03 — about 1,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 6 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 5 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 18.1470, -67.3278. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 2 km SSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 20 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 2 km SSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 11 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 3 km ENE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 1 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 8 km WNW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 31 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 4 km SSW of Añasco, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 2 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 36 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 3 km SW of La Parguera, 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.