QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5Md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:51 pm AST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Salinas, PR, at 11:21 pm AST on 21 January 2017 (03:21 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NE of Salinas, Puerto Rico

52 km (33 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 35 km (22 mi) E of Ponce, PR

11:21 pm AST, Jan 21, 2017 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 3 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 11 kmCoamo Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 16 kmAibonito Municipio 16 kmCayey Municipio 20 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 21 kmBarranquitas Municipio 24 kmCidra Municipio 25 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
11:21 pm AST on 21 January 2017 ()
Where
in Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 2.5 (Md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 3 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3580 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 21 km (13 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: Santa Isabel 12 km, intensity II · Coamo 13 km, intensity II · Guayama 19 km, intensity II · Cayey 19 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 1,400 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 · 35 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 17.9853, -66.2895. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) ESE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3 km WNW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 0 km NNE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 11 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 6 km SW of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 8 km ESE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 1 km N of Candelaria Arenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  9. 1.8 2 km WSW of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 5 km S of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 4 km WNW of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 3 km S of Cayey, 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.