QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Emajagua, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Emajagua in the 24 hours to 3:54 pm AST (19:54 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) ESE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Emajagua

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Emajagua, PR, at 2:23 am AST on 23 July 2017 (06:23 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 15 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico

62 km (39 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 45 km (28 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

2:23 am AST, Jul 23, 2017 · · 16 km deep · released about 41 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Emajagua Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 16 kmYabucoa Municipio 18 kmHumacao Municipio 24 kmPatillas Municipio 25 kmArroyo Municipio 29 kmLas Piedras Municipio 32 kmNaguabo Municipio 33 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 34 kmJuncos Municipio 37 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
2:23 am AST on 23 July 2017 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) southeast of Emajagua, PR · earthquakes near Emajagua
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 16 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Emajagua, 15 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: El Negro, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Palo Seco, Playita, Comunas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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 5,800 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 17.9163, -65.7715. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) WNW earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 2 km ENE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 3 km NNW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 26 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 2 km NNW of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 1 km NNE of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 4 km WNW of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 33 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 17 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 14 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 21 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 5 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 22 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 21 km S of Lamboglia, 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.