QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6Md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 11:27 am AST (15:27 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (18 mi) south-southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 6:51 am AST on 17 December 2016 (10:51 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 28 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

82 km (51 mi) SE of San Juan, PR

6:51 am AST, Dec 17, 2016 · · 16 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 32 kmHumacao Municipio 41 kmYabucoa Municipio 41 kmMaunabo Municipio 41 kmNaguabo Municipio 45 kmCeiba Municipio 45 kmPatillas Municipio 50 kmLas Piedras Municipio 51 kmArroyo Municipio 54 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
6:51 am AST on 17 December 2016 ()
Where
28 km (18 mi) south-southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.6 (Md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 32 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3528 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 18 km (11 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 1,000 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 17.8528, -65.5428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) NW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) NW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) NNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) N earthquakes near Ceiba 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. 2.5 0 km SW of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.6 33 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 3 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 31 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 8 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 52 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 27 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 34 km ESE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 15 km WSW 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.