QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Bayamón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bayamón in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm AST (17:34 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 98 km (61 mi) WSW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bayamón

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded in Bayamón, PR, at 9:09 pm AST on 17 July 2017 (01:09 UTC), 115 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico

in Bayamón, PR

9:09 pm AST, Jul 17, 2017 · · 115 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bayamón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cataño Municipio 4 kmToa Baja Municipio 6 kmBayamón Municipio 7 kmGuaynabo Municipio 9 kmToa Alta Municipio 10 kmSan Juan Municipio 11 kmDorado Municipio 12 kmNaranjito Municipio 16 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 18 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
9:09 pm AST on 17 July 2017 ()
Where
in Bayamón, PR · earthquakes near Bayamón
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
115 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cataño Municipio, 4 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3319 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sabana Seca, Candelaria, Levittown, Candelaria Arenas, Mucarabones, Cataño.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 17 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 21 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 18.4116, -66.1681. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cataño Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NNE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NNW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) S earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) E earthquakes near San Juan 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. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  2. 3.3 12 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 1 km SW of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 2 km ENE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 2 km ESE of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 1 km NW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 3 km NNW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 3 km E of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 24 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 0 km ESE of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 35 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 28 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 1 km NNE of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 10 km NNW of San Juan, 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.