QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7Md

Earthquake near Bajandas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bajandas in the 24 hours to 6:00 pm AST (22:00 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 52 km (32 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bajandas

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Bajandas, PR, at 10:36 am AST on 11 November 2016 (14:36 UTC), 47 km deep.

USGS: 1 km E of Bajandas, Puerto Rico

42 km (26 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

10:36 am AST, Nov 11, 2016 · · 47 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bajandas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 3 kmNaguabo Municipio 7 kmLas Piedras Municipio 12 kmYabucoa Municipio 15 kmJuncos Municipio 17 kmCeiba Municipio 19 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 22 kmMaunabo Municipio 22 kmCanóvanas Municipio 23 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
10:36 am AST on 11 November 2016 ()
Where
in Bajandas, PR · earthquakes near Bajandas
Magnitude
M 1.7 (Md)
Depth
47 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 3 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3652 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Punta Santiago, Antón Ruiz, Humacao, Naguabo, Río Blanco, Peña Pobre.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-09-02 — about 7,900 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 · 41 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 18.1573, -65.7666. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NNE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 15 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 30 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 21 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 6 km ESE of Comunas, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 2 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 3 km NE of Benitez, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.3 17 km SSE of Esperanza, 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.