QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0Md

Earthquake near Yabucoa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yabucoa in the 24 hours to 5:23 pm AST (21:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yabucoa

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) south-southeast of Yabucoa, PR, at 5:28 am AST on 19 December 2016 (09:28 UTC), 27 km deep.

USGS: 38 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico

87 km (54 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR

5:28 am AST, Dec 19, 2016 · · 27 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yabucoa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 39 kmYabucoa Municipio 43 kmPatillas Municipio 46 kmHumacao Municipio 48 kmArroyo Municipio 48 kmVieques Municipio 52 kmNaguabo Municipio 55 kmLas Piedras Municipio 56 kmGuayama Municipio 57 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
5:28 am AST on 19 December 2016 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) south-southeast of Yabucoa, PR · earthquakes near Yabucoa
Magnitude
M 2.0 (Md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 39 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3614 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 Yabucoa, 43 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — 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. 5.3 68 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico · 36 km S 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 17.7189, -65.6717. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) NW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) NW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) NW earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) NNE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 22 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 10 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 18 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 9 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 13 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 4 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.6 33 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 3 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 31 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 8 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.