QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4Md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, at 7:26 pm AST on 24 October 2016 (23:26 UTC), 34 km deep.

· 34 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 108 kmCulebra Municipio 108 kmLuquillo Municipio 115 kmRío Grande Municipio 118 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
Magnitude
M 2.4 (Md)
Depth
34 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 108 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3670 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2016-09-04 — about 710 times the energy of this one.

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 19.2975, -65.2368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) S earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 115 km (71 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 118 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 120 km (75 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 123 km (76 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 90 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.7 110 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 1.6 91 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 85 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.9 118 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 129 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 105 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 79 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 94 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.6 121 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.4 126 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 Virgin Islands
  13. 2.0 75 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 3.1 145 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.5 73 km N of Culebra, 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.