QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Moca, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Moca in the 24 hours to 7:47 pm AST (23:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, in Moca, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Moca

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Moca, PR, at 6:01 pm AST on 14 May 2017 (22:01 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SE of Moca, Puerto Rico

21 km (13 mi) NNE of Mayagüez, PR · 109 km (68 mi) W of San Juan, PR

6:01 pm AST, May 14, 2017 · · 19 km deep · released about 150 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Moca Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Moca Municipio 2 kmAguada Municipio 9 kmAñasco Municipio 11 kmAguadilla Municipio 12 kmIsabela Municipio 14 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 15 kmRincón Municipio 17 kmQuebradillas Municipio 20 kmLas Marías 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
6:01 pm AST on 14 May 2017 ()
Where
in Moca, PR · earthquakes near Moca
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Moca Municipio, 2 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3465 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 11 km (7 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: Aguadilla 8 km, intensity II · Aguada 10 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 14 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 23 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 29 km NNW 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 18.3840, -67.0983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Moca Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 4 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 13 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 3 km S of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 Mona Passage
  5. 2.2 14 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 10 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 1 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 17 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 7 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 22 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 3 km SSW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 24 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 13 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 0 km NNE of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 10 km NW of Puerto Real, 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.