QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Villalba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Villalba in the 24 hours to 5:20 pm AST (21:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 33 km (20 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Villalba

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Villalba, PR, at 1:55 am AST on 5 December 2017 (05:55 UTC), 20 km deep.

USGS: 0 km ESE of Villalba, Puerto Rico

20 km (13 mi) NE of Ponce, PR

1:55 am AST, Dec 5, 2017 · · 20 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Villalba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Villalba Municipio 1 kmOrocovis Municipio 12 kmCoamo Municipio 13 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 14 kmJayuya Municipio 15 kmPonce Municipio 19 kmCiales Municipio 19 kmBarranquitas Municipio 20 kmSanta Isabel 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
1:55 am AST on 5 December 2017 ()
Where
in Villalba, PR · earthquakes near Villalba
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Villalba Municipio, 1 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3264 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: Guayabal, Juana Díaz, Luis Llorens Torres, Río Cañas Abajo, Coto Laurel, Los Llanos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 50 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km NNE 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 18.1236, -66.4835. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Villalba Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) ENE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 3 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 5 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 8 km NNE of Animas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 10 km NNW of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 1 km SSW of Guayabal, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 5 km NNE of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 1 km E of Barceloneta, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 13 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 2 km WNW of Sabana, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 5 km SE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 5 km SW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 19 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.3 4 km NE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 2 km ESE of Sabana Grande, 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.