QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Lares, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Lares in the 24 hours to 6:02 pm AST (22:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 39 km (24 mi) S, at 3:58 pm AST on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lares

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Lares, PR, at 10:06 pm AST on 27 December 2023 (02:06 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 7 km SSE of Lares, Puerto Rico

86 km (54 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR · 28 km (18 mi) SSW of Arecibo, PR

10:06 pm AST, Dec 27, 2023 · · 11 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lares Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lares Municipio 5 kmMaricao Municipio 10 kmAdjuntas Municipio 12 kmLas Marías Municipio 12 kmYauco Municipio 16 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 16 kmUtuado Municipio 17 kmSabana Grande Municipio 18 kmSan Germán Municipio 23 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
10:06 pm AST on 27 December 2023 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Lares, PR · earthquakes near Lares
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lares Municipio, 5 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1049 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Lares, 7 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Juncal, Maricao, Quebrada, Cayuco, Adjuntas, Utuado.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 10,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 49 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 29 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 18.2292, -66.8620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lares Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) N earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 3 km SE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 7 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 2 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 5 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 1 km ENE of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 1 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 17 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 5 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 9 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 0 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 6 km NNE of Yauco, 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.