QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near El Negro, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in El Negro in the 24 hours to 12:47 pm AST (16:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) SSE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near El Negro

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east of El Negro, PR, at 11:50 am AST on 27 April 2024 (15:50 UTC), 7.8 km deep.

USGS: 13 km E of El Negro, Puerto Rico

55 km (34 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 40 km (25 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

11:50 am AST, Apr 27, 2024 · · 7.8 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Negro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 14 kmYabucoa Municipio 15 kmMaunabo Municipio 18 kmNaguabo Municipio 21 kmLas Piedras Municipio 24 kmCeiba Municipio 28 kmPatillas Municipio 28 kmJuncos Municipio 30 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 30 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
11:50 am AST on 27 April 2024 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east of El Negro, PR · earthquakes near El Negro
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 14 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 928 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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In El Negro, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Emajagua 17 km, intensity II · Humacao 18 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 27 km, intensity II · Esperanza 28 km, intensity II · Jagual 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 750 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 750 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 640 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 18.0242, -65.7250. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km NNW of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 4 km NNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.5 11 km SSE of Daguao, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 3 km SE of Bartolo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 5 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 28 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 28 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 11 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 7 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 17 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 14 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 19 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 14 km SE of Esperanza, 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.