QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 11 km (7 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR, at 7:01 pm AST on 17 December 2017 (23:01 UTC), 27 km deep.

11 km (7 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 127 km (79 mi) W of San Juan, PR

· 27 km deep · released about 24 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 15 kmRincón Municipio 16 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmAguada Municipio 21 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 23 kmSan Germán Municipio 24 kmMoca Municipio 27 kmLas Marías Municipio 29 kmLajas Municipio 33 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
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 15 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3250 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: Mayagüez, La Playa, Stella, Hormigueros, Puerto Real, Añasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 3,600 times the energy of this one.

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 18.1953, -67.2481. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 2 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 Mona Passage
  3. 1.9 1 km SSE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 9 km W of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 5 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 8 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 5 km SSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 3 km WSW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 5 km NE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 20 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 0 km WSW of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 3 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 19 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 5 km NE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 4 km SW of Palmarejo, 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.