QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0Md

Earthquake near Villalba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Villalba in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 33 km (20 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Villalba

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northwest of Villalba, PR, at 3:17 pm AST on 21 March 2017 (19:17 UTC), 37 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NW of Villalba, Puerto Rico

21 km (13 mi) NE of Ponce, PR

3:17 pm AST, Mar 21, 2017 · · 37 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Villalba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Villalba Municipio 5 kmJayuya Municipio 10 kmOrocovis Municipio 11 kmCiales Municipio 16 kmCoamo Municipio 17 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 18 kmPonce Municipio 20 kmMorovis Municipio 21 kmBarranquitas Municipio 22 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
3:17 pm AST on 21 March 2017 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) northwest of Villalba, PR · earthquakes near Villalba
Magnitude
M 2.0 (Md)
Depth
37 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Villalba Municipio, 5 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3522 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Villalba, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Guayabal, Jayuya, Luis Llorens Torres, Juana Díaz, Coto Laurel, Río Cañas Abajo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 46 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 43 km NNE 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 18.1555, -66.5139. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Villalba Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Ciales Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Ciales Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 2 km S of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 3 km SW of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 10 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 0 km NNE of Ciales, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 7 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 4 km W of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 6 km ENE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 1 km WSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 1 km E of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 3 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 4 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 1 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 13 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 10 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 12 km S of Potala Pastillo, 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.