QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Yabucoa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yabucoa in the 24 hours to 4:42 pm AST (20:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yabucoa

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Yabucoa, PR, at 5:25 pm AST on 16 November 2017 (21:25 UTC), 4.0 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km NNE of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico

43 km (27 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 26 km (16 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

5:25 pm AST, Nov 16, 2017 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yabucoa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yabucoa Municipio 2 kmMaunabo Municipio 7 kmHumacao Municipio 13 kmPatillas Municipio 13 kmLas Piedras Municipio 14 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 14 kmJuncos Municipio 19 kmArroyo Municipio 20 kmNaguabo Municipio 22 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
5:25 pm AST on 16 November 2017 ()
Where
in Yabucoa, PR · earthquakes near Yabucoa
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Yabucoa Municipio, 2 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3276 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 27 km (17 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: Emajagua 7 km, intensity III · Humacao 11 km, intensity III · Jagual 17 km, intensity II · Caguas 27 km, intensity II · Guayama 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 490 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 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 490 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 480 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 · 35 km NW 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 18.0606, -65.8760. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) E earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near San Lorenzo 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. 2.1 2 km NW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 10 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 5 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 4 km NW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 1 km N of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 1 km SE of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 4 km SE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 13 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 2 km ESE of Humacao, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 4 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 9 km SSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 9 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 14 km SSE of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 1 km S of G. L. Garcia, 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.