QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0Md

Earthquake near Aguada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguada in the 24 hours to 5:58 pm AST (21:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 7 km (5 mi) ENE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguada

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west of Aguada, PR, at 11:24 pm AST on 11 March 2017 (03:24 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

58 km (36 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 117 km (73 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

11:24 pm AST, Mar 11, 2017 · · 17 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 42 kmMayagüez Municipio 43 kmAguada Municipio 49 kmAguadilla Municipio 54 kmAñasco Municipio 56 kmMoca Municipio 60 kmHormigueros Municipio 63 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 66 kmIsabela Municipio 67 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
11:24 pm AST on 11 March 2017 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) west of Aguada, PR · earthquakes near Aguada
Magnitude
M 3.0 (Md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 42 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3532 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 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguada, 48 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.

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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 46 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 25 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 33 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km NE 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 18.3990, -67.6470. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 54 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 58 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.7 56 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.0 4 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 17 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 34 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 45 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 22 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 21 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 44 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 41 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.5 70 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 16 km WNW of Puerto Real, 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.