QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 6:10 pm AST (22:10 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 8:31 pm AST on 25 February 2023 (00:31 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 13 km SSW of Gu?nica, Puerto Rico

40 km (25 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR

8:31 pm AST, Feb 25, 2023 · · 16 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 11 kmLajas Municipio 14 kmSabana Grande Municipio 24 kmGuayanilla Municipio 24 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 26 kmYauco Municipio 27 kmSan Germán Municipio 28 kmPeñuelas Municipio 32 kmHormigueros 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
8:31 pm AST on 25 February 2023 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 11 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1028 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 Ponce, 41 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: Yauco 23 km, intensity II · San Germán 25 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 25 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 26 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 28 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 31 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 32 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 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 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 63,000 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 17.8669, -66.9777. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Yauco 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. 3.2 2 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.4 6 km SW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 20 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 8 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 7 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 6 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 5 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 3 km NW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.8 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 4 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 4 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 9 km SSE 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.