QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Sumidero, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Sumidero in the 24 hours to 12:12 pm AST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 89 km (55 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sumidero

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) northwest of Sumidero, PR, at 8:58 am AST on 12 August 2017 (12:58 UTC), 58 km deep.

USGS: 7 km NW of Sumidero, Puerto Rico

19 km (12 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 13 km (8 mi) S of Bayamón, PR

8:58 am AST, Aug 12, 2017 · · 58 km deep · released about 390 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sumidero Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 5 kmComerío Municipio 6 kmNaranjito Municipio 9 kmBayamón Municipio 9 kmCidra Municipio 10 kmGuaynabo Municipio 11 kmToa Alta Municipio 13 kmCaguas Municipio 14 kmBarranquitas Municipio 16 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
8:58 am AST on 12 August 2017 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) northwest of Sumidero, PR · earthquakes near Sumidero
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
58 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 5 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3378 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. In Sumidero, 7 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: Santa Clara, Comerío, Aguas Buenas, Naranjito, Cidra, Parcelas La Milagrosa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 390 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 39,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 28,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 390 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 620 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 4 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 32 km NNW 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 18.2645, -66.1748. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) E earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 5 km SW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 4 km NE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 2 km NNW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 2 km NW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 3 km NNW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 1 km E of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 11 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 1 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 6 km SSE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 7 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.3 12 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 5 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 1 km SW of Trujillo Alto, 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.