QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 12:18 pm AST (16:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 14 km (8 mi) west of Esperanza, PR, at 7:12 am AST on 16 March 2018 (11:12 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 13 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

61 km (38 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 49 km (31 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

7:12 am AST, Mar 16, 2018 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 290 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 18 kmCeiba Municipio 19 kmNaguabo Municipio 20 kmHumacao Municipio 21 kmYabucoa Municipio 28 kmLas Piedras Municipio 31 kmMaunabo Municipio 33 kmFajardo Municipio 34 kmLuquillo Municipio 34 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
7:12 am AST on 16 March 2018 ()
Where
14 km (8 mi) west of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 18 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3075 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 14 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: Esperanza 14 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 18 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 290 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 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 290 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 810 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.0820, -65.5985. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) W earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 7 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 0 km NNW of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 5 km ENE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 6 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 5 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 3 km S of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 8 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 1 km SSW of Santa Barbara, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 8 km SE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 7 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 7 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 26 km NW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 5 km S of Palmas, 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.