QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4Md

Earthquake near Gurabo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Gurabo in the 24 hours to 11:30 am AST (15:30 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 75 km (47 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 Gurabo

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Gurabo, PR, at 8:34 pm AST on 20 January 2017 (00:34 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 3 km WSW of Gurabo, Puerto Rico

in Caguas, PR

8:34 pm AST, Jan 20, 2017 · · 18 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Gurabo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Gurabo Municipio 4 kmCaguas Municipio 6 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 10 kmJuncos Municipio 10 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 11 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 13 kmCanóvanas Municipio 15 kmLas Piedras Municipio 15 kmGuaynabo Municipio 16 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
8:34 pm AST on 20 January 2017 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Gurabo, PR · earthquakes near Gurabo
Magnitude
M 2.4 (Md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Gurabo Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3581 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Gurabo, 3 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.

Likely felt in: Caguas 5 km, intensity II · Jagual 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 14 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km NW 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 18.2469, -66.0036. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Gurabo Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 14 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 12 km ESE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 3 km S of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 3 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 1 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 7 km WSW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 1 km NW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 20 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 5 km N of Olimpo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 6 km NNE of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 20 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  14. 2.3 10 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 18 km SSE of Lamboglia, 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.