QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

58 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 58 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico, at 5:21 am AST on 24 April 2017 (09:21 UTC), 24 km deep.

· 24 km deep · released about 650 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 20 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 59 kmRincón Municipio 66 kmHormigueros Municipio 69 kmAñasco Municipio 73 kmAguada Municipio 74 kmLajas Municipio 74 kmSan Germán Municipio 76 kmMoca Municipio 83 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 20 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3488 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 21 km (13 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 650 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 23,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 650 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 45 km ENE 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 17.9701, -67.7410. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 73 km (46 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 71 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 33 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 34 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 28 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 70 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 2.6 64 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.3 61 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.3 31 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 32 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.6 67 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 67 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.5 68 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.0 31 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 14 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 17 km SW of Stella, 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.