QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Candelero Arriba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Candelero Arriba in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 14 km (9 mi) S, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Candelero Arriba, PR, at 11:43 pm AST on 12 December 2017 (03:43 UTC), 67 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico

42 km (26 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

11:43 pm AST, Dec 12, 2017 · · 67 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 4 kmYabucoa Municipio 7 kmLas Piedras Municipio 10 kmNaguabo Municipio 14 kmMaunabo Municipio 15 kmJuncos Municipio 16 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 17 kmPatillas Municipio 21 kmGurabo Municipio 25 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
11:43 pm AST on 12 December 2017 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Candelero Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Candelero Arriba
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
67 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3255 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Candelero Arriba, 2 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Comunas, Humacao, Bajandas, La Fermina, Antón Ruiz, El Negro.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,500 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 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 160 times the energy of this one.

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 · 37 km WNW 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 18.1115, -65.8203. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 6 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 6 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 4 km SW of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 1 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 5 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 2 km NW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 9 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 5 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 4 km NW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 1 km N of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 1 km SE of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 4 km SE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 13 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 2 km ESE of Humacao, 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.