QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0Md

Earthquake near Emajagua, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Emajagua in the 24 hours to 10:12 am AST (14:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) ESE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Emajagua

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south of Emajagua, PR, at 12:37 am AST on 31 January 2017 (04:37 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 7 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico

56 km (35 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 38 km (23 mi) SSE of Caguas, PR

12:37 am AST, Jan 31, 2017 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Emajagua Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 8 kmPatillas Municipio 14 kmYabucoa Municipio 15 kmArroyo Municipio 18 kmHumacao Municipio 25 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 26 kmGuayama Municipio 28 kmLas Piedras Municipio 29 kmJuncos Municipio 33 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
12:37 am AST on 31 January 2017 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) south of Emajagua, PR · earthquakes near Emajagua
Magnitude
M 3.0 (Md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 8 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3571 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Emajagua, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Emajagua 8 km, intensity III · Humacao 25 km, intensity II · Guayama 26 km, intensity II · Jagual 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 250 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 · 46 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 17.9290, -65.8797. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Lorenzo 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. 2.3 21 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 10 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 28 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 16 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 10 km SSE of Daguao, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 22 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 12 km ESE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 3 km S of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 3 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 1 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 29 km SW 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.