QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 11:28 am AST (15:28 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) north of Arecibo, PR, at 4:37 am AST on 17 October 2023 (08:37 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 11 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) N of Arecibo, PR · 73 km (46 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

4:37 am AST, Oct 17, 2023 · · 23 km deep · released about 390 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hatillo Municipio 16 kmArecibo Municipio 17 kmCamuy Municipio 20 kmBarceloneta Municipio 22 kmQuebradillas Municipio 24 kmFlorida Municipio 29 kmManatí Municipio 29 kmIsabela Municipio 31 kmUtuado 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
4:37 am AST on 17 October 2023 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) north of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hatillo Municipio, 16 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1121 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Arecibo, 11 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: Arecibo 11 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 310 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 18 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 28 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 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 18.5732, -66.7350. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hatillo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) WSW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Florida Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 32 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 7 km NNE of Utuado, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 2 km SSE of Coto Norte, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 12 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 7 km SSE of Lares, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 16 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 12 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 5 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 3 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 19 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  14. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.0 49 km N of Brenas, 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.