QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 5:56 pm AST (21:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) north of Aguadilla, PR, at 3:28 am AST on 8 December 2017 (07:28 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

3:28 am AST, Dec 8, 2017 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 43 kmIsabela Municipio 48 kmAguada Municipio 53 kmQuebradillas Municipio 54 kmMoca Municipio 56 kmRincón Municipio 57 kmCamuy Municipio 60 kmAñasco Municipio 64 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 65 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
3:28 am AST on 8 December 2017 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) north of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 43 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3179 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 45 km (28 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguadilla, 48 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: Isabela 45 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 46 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 46 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 14 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 18 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 50 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 46 km S 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 18.8535, -67.2411. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) SSE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 54 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 55 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 28 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 51 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 18 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 50 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 54 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 61 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 39 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 60 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 61 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 13 km NE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 13 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 17 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 21 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 86 km N of Isabela, 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.