QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Punta Santiago, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Punta Santiago in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 49 km (31 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Punta Santiago

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Punta Santiago, PR, at 12:09 pm AST on 23 May 2017 (16:09 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico

49 km (30 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 36 km (22 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

12:09 pm AST, May 23, 2017 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Punta Santiago Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 7 kmNaguabo Municipio 11 kmYabucoa Municipio 16 kmLas Piedras Municipio 18 kmCeiba Municipio 19 kmMaunabo Municipio 22 kmJuncos Municipio 23 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 27 kmLuquillo Municipio 29 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
12:09 pm AST on 23 May 2017 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Punta Santiago, PR · earthquakes near Punta Santiago
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 7 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3458 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Punta Santiago, 7 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: Humacao 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 12,000 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 · 47 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 18.1090, -65.7221. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) WSW earthquakes near Maunabo 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. 2.6 1 km N of Pueblito del Rio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 20 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 15 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 16 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 29 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 19 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 28 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 17 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 15 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 21 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 23 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 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.