QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 5:23 pm AST (21:23 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 30 km (18 mi) south of Esperanza, PR, at 6:35 am AST on 17 December 2019 (10:35 UTC), 33 km deep.

USGS: 29 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

92 km (57 mi) SE of San Juan, PR

6:35 am AST, Dec 17, 2019 · · 33 km deep · released about 890 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 33 kmHumacao Municipio 50 kmCeiba Municipio 51 kmYabucoa Municipio 52 kmMaunabo Municipio 52 kmNaguabo Municipio 53 kmCulebra Municipio 57 kmLas Piedras Municipio 61 kmPatillas Municipio 61 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
6:35 am AST on 17 December 2019 ()
Where
30 km (18 mi) south of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 33 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2521 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 30 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 270 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 17.8323, -65.4348. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) N earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) NW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 51 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) NW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 22 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 26 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 19 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 22 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 27 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 22 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 27 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 25 km SE of Emajagua, 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.