QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5Md

Earthquake near Aguas Claras, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Claras in the 24 hours to 9:50 am AST (13:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 47 km (29 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aguas Claras

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Aguas Claras, PR, at 12:11 am AST on 22 February 2017 (04:11 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 0 km SW of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico

46 km (29 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 39 km (24 mi) ESE of Carolina, PR

12:11 am AST, Feb 22, 2017 · · 13 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Claras Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ceiba Municipio 4 kmNaguabo Municipio 9 kmLuquillo Municipio 15 kmFajardo Municipio 17 kmHumacao Municipio 18 kmRío Grande Municipio 21 kmLas Piedras Municipio 23 kmCanóvanas Municipio 26 kmJuncos Municipio 26 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
12:11 am AST on 22 February 2017 ()
Where
in Aguas Claras, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Claras
Magnitude
M 2.5 (Md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ceiba Municipio, 4 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3549 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 18 km (11 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: Aguas Claras in town, intensity II · Fajardo 9 km, intensity II · Luquillo 15 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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.2460, -65.6593. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ceiba Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) E earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 13 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 29 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 32 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 26 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 3 km WNW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 11 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 21 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 10 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 28 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 35 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 16 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 6 km E of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 9 km S of Emajagua, 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.