QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Central Aguirre, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Central Aguirre in the 24 hours to 10:59 am AST (14:59 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Central Aguirre

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Central Aguirre, PR, at 8:16 am AST on 15 May 2017 (12:16 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico

55 km (34 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 38 km (24 mi) E of Ponce, PR

8:16 am AST, May 15, 2017 · · 14 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Central Aguirre Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 3 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 13 kmGuayama Municipio 14 kmCoamo Municipio 20 kmAibonito Municipio 20 kmCayey Municipio 21 kmArroyo Municipio 24 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 24 kmCidra Municipio 27 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
8:16 am AST on 15 May 2017 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Central Aguirre, PR · earthquakes near Central Aguirre
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 3 km N
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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Central Aguirre, 5 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: Santa Isabel 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.7× 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 1,900 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 · 37 km NNE 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 17.9483, -66.2656. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) N earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 2 km NNE of Franquez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 7 km NW of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 4 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 4 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km S of Coco, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 3 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 0 km ENE of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 1 km ENE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 16 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 11 km S of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 13 km S of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 9 km SSE of Tallaboa, 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.