QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8Md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 36 km (22 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR, at 1:25 pm AST on 16 February 2017 (17:25 UTC), 79 km deep.

36 km (22 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR · 105 km (65 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

· 79 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Isabela Municipio 13 kmAguadilla Municipio 17 kmQuebradillas Municipio 19 kmMoca Municipio 25 kmCamuy Municipio 25 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 31 kmHatillo Municipio 31 kmAñasco Municipio 36 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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (Md)
Depth
79 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Isabela Municipio, 13 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3470 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Isabela, Rafael Hernandez, Mora, Quebradillas, Aceitunas, Caban.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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.

Where

Epicentre 18.5995, -67.0384. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Isabela Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) SE earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 10 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 46 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 50 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 2 km NNE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 4 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 34 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 38 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 39 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 33 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 36 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 34 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 4 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 8 km WNW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 10 km NNE of Carrizales, 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.