QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Aguas Claras, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Claras in the 24 hours to 4:42 pm AST (20:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 47 km (29 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aguas Claras

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Aguas Claras, PR, at 2:44 am AST on 20 October 2017 (06:44 UTC), 131 km deep.

USGS: 4 km WNW of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico

42 km (26 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · 34 km (21 mi) ESE of Carolina, PR

2:44 am AST, Oct 20, 2017 · · 131 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Claras Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ceiba Municipio 7 kmNaguabo Municipio 8 kmLuquillo Municipio 11 kmRío Grande Municipio 16 kmFajardo Municipio 17 kmHumacao Municipio 18 kmLas Piedras Municipio 21 kmCanóvanas Municipio 22 kmJuncos Municipio 24 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
2:44 am AST on 20 October 2017 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Aguas Claras, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Claras
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
131 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ceiba Municipio, 7 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3227 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 Aguas Claras, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Daguao, Luis M. Cintron, Duque, Fajardo, Ramos, Naguabo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more

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 130 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 · 47 km W 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 18.2721, -65.6885. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ceiba Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 6 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 6 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 20 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 1 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 2 km NW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 9 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 5 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 4 km NW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 20 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 29 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 27 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 1 km SE of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 4 km SE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 13 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 2 km ESE of Humacao, 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.