QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 5:52 pm AST (21:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 5:13 am AST on 3 October 2017 (09:13 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 21 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

41 km (25 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 140 km (87 mi) W of San Juan, PR

5:13 am AST, Oct 3, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 450 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 22 kmAguada Municipio 25 kmAguadilla Municipio 26 kmMoca Municipio 35 kmAñasco Municipio 35 kmIsabela Municipio 40 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 48 kmHormigueros Municipio 48 kmQuebradillas Municipio 49 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
5:13 am AST on 3 October 2017 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 22 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3313 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 450 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 34,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 24,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 450 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 270 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 15 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 49 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 18 km ENE 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 18.4846, -67.3901. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 10 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 42 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 16 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 Mona Passage
  5. 3.1 17 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 Mona Passage
  7. 2.9 39 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 31 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 15 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 19 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 11 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 4 km W of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 42 km NNW of San Antonio, 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.