QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Playita, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Playita in the 24 hours to 10:19 am AST (14:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 12 km (7 mi) SE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Playita

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded in Playita, PR, at 8:44 pm AST on 3 May 2017 (00:44 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 1 km ESE of Playita, Puerto Rico

45 km (28 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

8:44 pm AST, May 3, 2017 · · 10 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Playita Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 4 kmYabucoa Municipio 4 kmPatillas Municipio 11 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 15 kmHumacao Municipio 16 kmLas Piedras Municipio 17 kmArroyo Municipio 17 kmJuncos Municipio 21 kmNaguabo Municipio 25 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
8:44 pm AST on 3 May 2017 ()
Where
in Playita, PR · earthquakes near Playita
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 4 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3478 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 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.

Likely felt in: Emajagua 4 km, intensity II · Humacao 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 5,200 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 · 36 km NW 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 18.0361, -65.8916. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) S earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 21 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 20 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 29 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 17 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 27 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 2 km WNW of Parcelas Nuevas, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 6 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 26 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 19 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 25 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 25 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 33 km SSW 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.