QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0Md

Earthquake near Benitez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Benitez in the 24 hours to 7:18 am AST (11:18 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 67 km (42 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 Benitez

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northeast of Benitez, PR, at 9:16 pm AST on 17 November 2016 (01:16 UTC), 31 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NE of Benitez, Puerto Rico

26 km (16 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 19 km (12 mi) SE of Carolina, PR

9:16 pm AST, Nov 17, 2016 · · 31 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Benitez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Canóvanas Municipio 6 kmJuncos Municipio 10 kmRío Grande Municipio 11 kmLas Piedras Municipio 12 kmGurabo Municipio 14 kmNaguabo Municipio 15 kmLuquillo Municipio 17 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 17 kmCarolina Municipio 17 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
9:16 pm AST on 17 November 2016 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) northeast of Benitez, PR · earthquakes near Benitez
Magnitude
M 2.0 (Md)
Depth
31 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Canóvanas Municipio, 6 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3645 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 Benitez, 4 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: Campo Rico, El Mangó, Pueblito del Rio, Bartolo, Peña Pobre, La Dolores.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 2,800 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 · 30 km W 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 18.2929, -65.8489. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 2 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 25 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 7 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 9 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 9 km S 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.