QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

127 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 127 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico, at 10:53 pm AST on 7 July 2017 (02:53 UTC), 40 km deep.

· 40 km deep · released about 210 lb of TNT

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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
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
40 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Toa Baja Municipio, 141 km SSW
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. 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 210 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 72,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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 4.2 on 2017-01-15 — about 290 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 40 km SW 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 19.5266, -65.4731. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 141 km (88 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 143 km (89 mi) SW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 154 km (96 mi) SW earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 164 km (102 mi) SW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 4.5 109 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 117 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.2 98 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 125 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.7 115 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 105 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.0 101 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 128 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 136 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 97 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.6 119 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.0 121 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.6 98 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 95 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 132 km NNE 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.