QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Garrochales, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Garrochales in the 24 hours to 1:01 pm AST (17:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 12 km (7 mi) NW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Garrochales

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) north-northwest of Garrochales, PR, at 12:23 pm AST on 12 October 2024 (16:23 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 15 km NNW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico

61 km (38 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 20 km (12 mi) NE of Arecibo, PR

12:23 pm AST, Oct 12, 2024 · · 13 km deep · released about 390 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 14 kmArecibo Municipio 18 kmManatí Municipio 20 kmFlorida Municipio 24 kmHatillo Municipio 26 kmVega Baja Municipio 26 kmCamuy Municipio 31 kmVega Alta Municipio 33 kmCiales 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
12:23 pm AST on 12 October 2024 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) north-northwest of Garrochales, PR · earthquakes near Garrochales
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 14 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 760 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Garrochales, 15 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: Barceloneta 17 km, intensity II · Arecibo 17 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 5 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 30 km ESE 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 18.5840, -66.6090. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSE earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 8 km ESE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 5 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 5 km NNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 3 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 45 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 44 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 45 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 48 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 44 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 44 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 47 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 40 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 1 km E of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 3 km S of Utuado, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 3 km ESE of Corcovado, 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.