QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near G. L. Garcia, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in G. L. Garcia in the 24 hours to 8:41 pm AST (00:41 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 44 km (27 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of G. L. Garcia, PR, at 3:29 am AST on 4 September 2017 (07:29 UTC), 27 km deep.

USGS: 5 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) S of Caguas, PR · 33 km (21 mi) S of San Juan, PR

3:29 am AST, Sep 4, 2017 · · 27 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Lorenzo Municipio 10 kmCayey Municipio 10 kmCaguas Municipio 12 kmPatillas Municipio 14 kmCidra Municipio 14 kmArroyo Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 17 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 19 kmGurabo Municipio 20 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
3:29 am AST on 4 September 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of G. L. Garcia, PR · earthquakes near G. L. Garcia
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Lorenzo Municipio, 10 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3356 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 G. L. Garcia, 6 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: Yaurel, Jagual, Patillas, Cayey, Buena Vista, Olimpo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 1,400 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 19 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 18.1048, -66.0545. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 10 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 3 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 5 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  5. 3.0 4 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.5 10 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 4 km SSE of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 3 km SSE of Carolina, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 18 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 20 km S of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 9 km SSE of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 12 km SE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 1 km WSW of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 1 km SSW of Guayabal, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 5 km NNE of Villalba, 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.