QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Puerto Real, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Puerto Real in the 24 hours to 6:05 pm AST (22:05 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR, at 8:07 am AST on 17 September 2026 (12:07 UTC), 57 km deep.

USGS: 8 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) SW of Mayagüez, PR · 129 km (80 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

8:07 am AST, Sep 17, 2026 · · 57 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Puerto Real Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 14 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 16 kmAñasco Municipio 22 kmSan Germán Municipio 23 kmRincón Municipio 24 kmLajas Municipio 28 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmLas Marías Municipio 31 kmSabana Grande Municipio 33 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
8:07 am AST on 17 September 2026 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR · earthquakes near Puerto Real
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
57 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 14 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 55 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 Puerto Real, 9 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros, Boquerón, Mayagüez, Monte Grande, Pole Ojea.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 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 6.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.2× 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 5.9 on 2020-01-11 — about 18,000 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 N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 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 18.1262, -67.2522. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 5 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 4 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 4 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 4 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 4 km SW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 4 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 5 km WSW of Guánica, 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.