QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6Md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 4:18 am AST (08:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west of Esperanza, PR, at 6:54 am AST on 17 November 2016 (10:54 UTC), 20 km deep.

USGS: 5 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

66 km (41 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 56 km (35 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

6:54 am AST, Nov 17, 2016 · · 20 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 10 kmCeiba Municipio 20 kmNaguabo Municipio 26 kmHumacao Municipio 28 kmFajardo Municipio 33 kmCulebra Municipio 34 kmYabucoa Municipio 36 kmLuquillo Municipio 36 kmLas Piedras Municipio 38 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
6:54 am AST on 17 November 2016 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 1.6 (Md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 10 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3648 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. In Esperanza, 6 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: Isabel Segunda, Aguas Claras, Daguao, Punta Santiago, Luis M. Cintron, Naguabo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 11,000 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 18.0974, -65.5250. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) W earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 24 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 7 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 2 km E of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.5 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 6 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 7 km SSW of Emajagua, 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.