Earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Río Cañas Abajo in the 24 hours to 10:49 am AST (14:49 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 22 km (14 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded in Río Cañas Abajo, PR, at 1:02 am AST on 4 August 2017 (05:02 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 0 km ENE of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico

18 km (11 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

1:02 am AST, Aug 4, 2017 · 2017-08-04 05:02 UTC · 16 km deep · released about 990 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 1:02 am AST on 4 August 2017 (2017-08-04 05:02 UTC)
Where: in Río Cañas Abajo, PR · earthquakes near Río Cañas Abajo
Magnitude: M 3.0 (md)
Depth: 16 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Juana Díaz Municipio, 6 km SSW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3312 days ago · we first saw it 3312 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 34 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Río Cañas Abajo in town, intensity III · Santa Isabel 10 km, intensity II · Coamo 12 km, intensity II · Ponce 18 km, intensity II · Jayuya 24 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 25 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 27 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 990 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 340,000× the energy of this one
Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 3.0 about 990 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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

5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 42 km NE of this epicentre Dec 24, 2010

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR	6 km (4 mi)	SSW	earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR	10 km (6 mi)	N	earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR	13 km (8 mi)	SE	earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR	13 km (8 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR	16 km (10 mi)	WSW	earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR	20 km (12 mi)	N	earthquakes near Orocovis 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.

2.7 1 km SSE of Brenas, Puerto Rico 07:20 UTC
2.1 24 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico 10:40 UTC
1.7 11 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico 03:56 UTC
2.4 37 km S of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico 17:35 UTC
1.7 5 km NNE of Yauco, Puerto Rico 05:33 UTC
2.3 4 km SW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico 04:48 UTC
2.0 2 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico 15:57 UTC
2.2 1 km WSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico 11:58 UTC
2.6 3 km SE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico 09:00 UTC
2.5 2 km N of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico 21:02 UTC
2.3 1 km NW of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico 00:03 UTC
2.5 5 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico 07:29 UTC
3.0 1 km SE of Corozal, Puerto Rico 09:33 UTC
1.8 22 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico 23:07 UTC
2.4 20 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 08:55 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:49 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.