QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5Md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 2:37 am AST (06:37 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) southwest of La Playa, PR, at 5:53 pm AST on 17 February 2017 (21:53 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 13 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 130 km (81 mi) W of San Juan, PR

5:53 pm AST, Feb 17, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 16 kmHormigueros Municipio 18 kmAñasco Municipio 18 kmAguada Municipio 22 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 24 kmSan Germán Municipio 27 kmMoca Municipio 29 kmLas Marías Municipio 32 kmLajas Municipio 35 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
5:53 pm AST on 17 February 2017 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) southwest of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 2.5 (Md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 16 km N
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In La Playa, 14 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: Mayagüez 14 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 16 km, intensity II · Rincón 16 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 31 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 10 km W 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 18.1942, -67.2750. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 40 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 5 km SW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 33 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 36 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 38 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 33 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 43 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 38 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 35 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 36 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 44 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 39 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 32 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 1 km SSE of Guánica, 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.