QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9Md

Earthquake near La Plena, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Plena in the 24 hours to 5:47 pm AST (21:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 31 km (19 mi) SW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Plena

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded in La Plena, PR, at 10:56 pm AST on 15 January 2017 (02:56 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 1 km E of La Plena, Puerto Rico

42 km (26 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 26 km (16 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

10:56 pm AST, Jan 15, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Plena Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 8 kmGuayama Municipio 10 kmSalinas Municipio 11 kmAibonito Municipio 12 kmCidra Municipio 14 kmArroyo Municipio 18 kmCoamo Municipio 18 kmComerío Municipio 20 kmBarranquitas Municipio 21 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
10:56 pm AST on 15 January 2017 ()
Where
in La Plena, PR · earthquakes near La Plena
Magnitude
M 2.9 (Md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 8 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3501 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 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Cayey 8 km, intensity II · Guayama 11 km, intensity II · Coamo 18 km, intensity II · Sumidero 20 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 24 km, intensity II · Jagual 24 km, intensity II · Caguas 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 350 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 · 24 km NNE 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 18.0478, -66.1938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 4 km WNW of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 12 km ESE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 3 km S of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 3 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 1 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 3 km NW of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 7 km WSW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 14 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 1 km NW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 20 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 5 km N of Olimpo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 23 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 0 km W of Luis Llorens Torres, 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.