QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5Md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 1:36 pm AST (17:36 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 28 km (18 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 12:57 pm AST on 11 December 2016 (16:57 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 28 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

99 km (61 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR

12:57 pm AST, Dec 11, 2016 · · 17 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 28 kmCulebra Municipio 46 kmCeiba Municipio 52 kmNaguabo Municipio 58 kmHumacao Municipio 58 kmFajardo Municipio 62 kmYabucoa Municipio 63 kmMaunabo Municipio 65 kmLuquillo Municipio 68 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
12:57 pm AST on 11 December 2016 ()
Where
28 km (18 mi) southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.5 (Md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 28 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3535 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 28 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 500 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 17.9116, -65.2863. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) NNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 46 km (29 mi) N earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) NW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 62 km (38 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 13 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 4 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.6 33 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 20 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 31 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 27 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 34 km ESE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 15 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 35 km NNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.