QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Hato Candal, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Hato Candal in the 24 hours to 7:18 pm AST (23:18 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 66 km (41 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hato Candal

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) southwest of Hato Candal, PR, at 2:53 am AST on 31 August 2026 (06:53 UTC), 128 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SW of Hato Candal, Puerto Rico

28 km (17 mi) E of San Juan, PR · 20 km (12 mi) ESE of Carolina, PR

2:53 am AST, Aug 31, 2026 · · 128 km deep · released about 1,400 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hato Candal Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Río Grande Municipio 2 kmCanóvanas Municipio 10 kmLuquillo Municipio 10 kmLoíza Municipio 18 kmNaguabo Municipio 18 kmCarolina Municipio 18 kmJuncos Municipio 19 kmLas Piedras Municipio 21 kmGurabo Municipio 21 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
2:53 am AST on 31 August 2026 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) southwest of Hato Candal, PR · earthquakes near Hato Candal
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
128 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Río Grande Municipio, 2 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 73 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 Hato Candal, 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: Palmer, Río Grande, Bartolo, La Dolores, Playa Fortuna, Vieques.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 170 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 37 km WSW 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 18.3602, -65.8015. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Río Grande Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) N earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carolina 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. 3.1 33 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 7 km ESE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 7 km NNW of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 4 km NNE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 41 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 3 km SE of Galateo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 8 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 12 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 7 km ENE of Fajardo, 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.