QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Santa Isabel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Isabel in the 24 hours to 7:36 pm AST (23:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Isabel

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) southwest of Santa Isabel, PR, at 8:00 pm AST on 12 December 2017 (00:00 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

22 km (14 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

8:00 pm AST, Dec 12, 2017 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Isabel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 4 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 10 kmSalinas Municipio 18 kmCoamo Municipio 20 kmPonce Municipio 20 kmVillalba Municipio 22 kmAibonito Municipio 27 kmGuayama Municipio 31 kmOrocovis Municipio 31 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
8:00 pm AST on 12 December 2017 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) southwest of Santa Isabel, PR · earthquakes near Santa Isabel
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 4 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3256 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Isabel, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Santa Isabel 4 km, intensity III · Río Cañas Abajo 12 km, intensity II · Coamo 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 100 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km NE 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 17.9376, -66.4261. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) ENE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 23 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 9 km NNE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.5 10 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 11 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 11 km S of Tallaboa, 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.