QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4Md

Earthquake near Candelero Arriba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Candelero Arriba in the 24 hours to 10:50 am AST (14:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 14 km (9 mi) S, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Candelero Arriba, PR, at 2:04 am AST on 24 March 2017 (06:04 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 12 km ESE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico

52 km (32 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 38 km (23 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

2:04 am AST, Mar 24, 2017 · · 22 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 10 kmYabucoa Municipio 13 kmNaguabo Municipio 17 kmMaunabo Municipio 18 kmLas Piedras Municipio 21 kmCeiba Municipio 25 kmJuncos Municipio 26 kmPatillas Municipio 27 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 28 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
2:04 am AST on 24 March 2017 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Candelero Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Candelero Arriba
Magnitude
M 2.4 (Md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 10 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3519 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 Candelero Arriba, 12 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: Comunas, Punta Santiago, Bajandas, El Negro, Humacao, Yabucoa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW 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 18.0568, -65.7338. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 25 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 10 km ESE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 27 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 26 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 30 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 4 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 19 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 Puerto Rico region

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.