QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near El Negro, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in El Negro in the 24 hours to 11:30 am AST (15:30 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) SSE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near El Negro

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) east-southeast of El Negro, PR, at 5:59 am AST on 22 July 2017 (09:59 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 21 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico

66 km (41 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 51 km (31 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

5:59 am AST, Jul 22, 2017 · · 16 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Negro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yabucoa Municipio 24 kmMaunabo Municipio 24 kmHumacao Municipio 25 kmNaguabo Municipio 31 kmPatillas Municipio 33 kmVieques Municipio 34 kmLas Piedras Municipio 35 kmCeiba Municipio 36 kmArroyo Municipio 39 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
5:59 am AST on 22 July 2017 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) east-southeast of El Negro, PR · earthquakes near El Negro
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yabucoa Municipio, 24 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3399 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 El Negro, 22 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Emajagua, Comunas, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Candelero Arriba, Punta Santiago.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9338, -65.6780. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 31 km (20 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 4 km SSE of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 9 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 18 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 20 km S of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 21 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 9 km SSE of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 12 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 2 km NW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 16 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 5 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 2 km ENE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 3 km NNW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 26 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 2 km NNW of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 1 km NNE of Yabucoa, 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.