QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Luquillo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Luquillo in the 24 hours to 12:27 pm AST (16:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Luquillo

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) north of Luquillo, PR, at 12:10 pm AST on 7 July 2017 (16:10 UTC), 33 km deep.

USGS: 45 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

62 km (38 mi) NE of San Juan, PR · 55 km (34 mi) NE of Carolina, PR

12:10 pm AST, Jul 7, 2017 · · 33 km deep · released about 230 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 47 kmLuquillo Municipio 49 kmRío Grande Municipio 50 kmLoíza Municipio 50 kmCarolina Municipio 56 kmCanóvanas Municipio 58 kmSan Juan Municipio 61 kmCeiba Municipio 61 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 64 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
12:10 pm AST on 7 July 2017 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) north of Luquillo, PR · earthquakes near Luquillo
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 47 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3414 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Luquillo, 48 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 230 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 65,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 46,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 230 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 4.3 on 2016-09-04 — about 370 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 28 km NE 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 18.8008, -65.6520. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 47 km (29 mi) S earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) S earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  2. 2.9 79 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.5 72 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 93 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 77 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 42 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 30 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 23 km NNE of Playa Fortuna, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 18 km NNE of Playa Fortuna, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 22 km NNE of Playa Fortuna, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 24 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 69 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 29 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 30 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 34 km NE of Vieques, 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.