QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Candelero Arriba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Candelero Arriba in the 24 hours to 4:33 pm AST (20:33 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 2.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Candelero Arriba, PR, at 11:28 am AST on 20 December 2017 (15:28 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NW of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico

38 km (24 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 23 km (14 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

11:28 am AST, Dec 20, 2017 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 390 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Candelero Arriba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yabucoa Municipio 7 kmLas Piedras Municipio 8 kmHumacao Municipio 8 kmJuncos Municipio 13 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 13 kmMaunabo Municipio 14 kmNaguabo Municipio 16 kmPatillas Municipio 19 kmGurabo Municipio 21 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
11:28 am AST on 20 December 2017 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northwest of Candelero Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Candelero Arriba
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yabucoa Municipio, 7 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3248 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Candelero Arriba, 3 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: Humacao 5 km, intensity III · Emajagua 14 km, intensity III · Jagual 15 km, intensity II · Caguas 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 390 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 39,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 28,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 390 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 since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 620 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 · 33 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 18.1203, -65.8576. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) S earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 7 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.9 6 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 13 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 13 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 15 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 6 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 6 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 4 km SW of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 1 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 5 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 2 km NW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 9 km ENE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 5 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 4 km NW of Bairoa, 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.