QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 29 km (18 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR, at 5:43 pm AST on 23 November 2017 (21:43 UTC), 19 km deep.

29 km (18 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 131 km (81 mi) W of San Juan, PR

· 19 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 10 kmAguada Municipio 13 kmAguadilla Municipio 18 kmAñasco Municipio 23 kmMoca Municipio 24 kmIsabela Municipio 31 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 36 kmHormigueros Municipio 36 kmLas Marías Municipio 40 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 10 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3275 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Rincón, Stella, Aguada, Aguadilla, Luyando, Caban.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 14,000 times the energy of this one.

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 18.4103, -67.3018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 31 km (20 mi) ENE 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. 2.5 18 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 12 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 Mona Passage
  4. 2.8 39 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 18 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 7 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 6 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 7 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 0 km NNE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 6 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 40 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 Mona Passage
  13. 2.5 37 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 9 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 10 km W of Puerto Real, 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.