QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 4:30 pm AST (20:30 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) north-northeast of Arecibo, PR, at 7:50 pm AST on 17 August 2024 (23:50 UTC), 27 km deep.

USGS: 20 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

68 km (42 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 23 km (14 mi) NNE of Arecibo, PR

7:50 pm AST, Aug 17, 2024 · · 27 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 22 kmArecibo Municipio 24 kmHatillo Municipio 28 kmManatí Municipio 28 kmCamuy Municipio 32 kmFlorida Municipio 32 kmVega Baja Municipio 34 kmQuebradillas Municipio 35 kmVega Alta Municipio 41 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
7:50 pm AST on 17 August 2024 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) north-northeast of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 22 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 816 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Arecibo, 21 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: Animas, Garrochales, Carrizales, Sabana Hoyos, Corcovado, Bajadero.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 490 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 490 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 2017-08-18 — about 970 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. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 13 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 57 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 50 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Puerto Rico region · 50 km NNW 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 18.6468, -66.6527. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Florida Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 68 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 17 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 58 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 23 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 50 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 18 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 43 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 2 km NNW of La Luisa, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 10 km NNW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 17 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 17 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 16 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 9 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 55 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 61 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.