QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6Md

Earthquake near Culebra, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Culebra in the last 24 hours. M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) ENE of Culebra, at 6:51 am AST on 11 November 2026 (10:51 UTC); the estimated shaking in Culebra was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Culebra

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Culebra, PR, at 1:42 am AST on 22 March 2017 (05:42 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WSW of Culebra, Puerto Rico

77 km (48 mi) E of San Juan, PR

1:42 am AST, Mar 22, 2017 · · 22 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Culebra Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 7 kmVieques Municipio 19 kmFajardo Municipio 28 kmCeiba Municipio 29 kmLuquillo Municipio 39 kmNaguabo Municipio 41 kmRío Grande Municipio 49 kmHumacao Municipio 49 kmLas Piedras Municipio 56 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
1:42 am AST on 22 March 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Culebra, PR · earthquakes near Culebra
Magnitude
M 2.6 (Md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 7 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3522 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Culebra, 6 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: Culebra 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.0 on 2016-11-11 — about 130 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 18.2759, -65.3498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) W earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) WNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) W earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 40 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 29 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 2.2 23 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 1.8 19 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 1.9 10 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 7 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 25 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 13 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 43 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 27 km NW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.2 19 km SE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 26 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 22 km NW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.3 21 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 10 km SSE of Esperanza, 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.