QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Santa Clara, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Clara in the 24 hours to 7:46 pm AST (23:46 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (30 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Clara

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Santa Clara, PR, at 10:05 pm AST on 11 July 2023 (02:05 UTC), 17 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2 km E of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico

7 km (4 mi) W of Caguas, PR

10:05 pm AST, Jul 11, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 350 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Clara Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 5 kmCaguas Municipio 6 kmCidra Municipio 8 kmComerío Municipio 12 kmGuaynabo Municipio 14 kmGurabo Municipio 14 kmCayey Municipio 14 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 16 kmBayamón Municipio 16 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
10:05 pm AST on 11 July 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Santa Clara, PR · earthquakes near Santa Clara
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 5 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1219 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Clara, 3 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: Sumidero 3 km, intensity II · Caguas 6 km, intensity II · Jagual 13 km, intensity II · Cayey 14 km, intensity II · Guaynabo 15 km, intensity II · Trujillo Alto 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 350 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 43,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 31,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 350 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 680 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 5 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km NW 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 18.2223, -66.1018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 6 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  2. 1.9 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 2 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 3 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.3 5 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 3 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  9. 3.3 4 km ENE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  11. 2.6 8 km S of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 10 km S of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 3 km S of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 4 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 Puerto Rico region

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.