QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Tierras Nuevas Poniente in the 24 hours to 9:46 pm AST (01:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 17 km (11 mi) WNW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR, at 11:51 pm AST on 23 November 2017 (03:51 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 28 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

53 km (33 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 43 km (27 mi) NE of Arecibo, PR

11:51 pm AST, Nov 23, 2017 · · 16 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tierras Nuevas Poniente Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vega Baja Municipio 30 kmBarceloneta Municipio 30 kmManatí Municipio 31 kmDorado Municipio 33 kmVega Alta Municipio 33 kmToa Baja Municipio 39 kmArecibo Municipio 40 kmFlorida Municipio 41 kmCataño Municipio 43 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
11:51 pm AST on 23 November 2017 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) north of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, PR · earthquakes near Tierras Nuevas Poniente
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vega Baja Municipio, 30 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3275 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 39 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 29 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: Vega Baja 31 km, intensity II · Barceloneta 32 km, intensity II · San Antonio 33 km, intensity II · Dorado 34 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 350 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 22 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 36 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 26 km SSE 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 18.7185, -66.4395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SSW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) SE earthquakes near Toa Baja 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. 2.9 70 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 2 km WNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 10 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 8 km NNW of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 18 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 40 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 53 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 68 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 77 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 73 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 33 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 21 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 66 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 41 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 48 km N of Carrizales, 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.