QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 10:47 am AST (14:47 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Arecibo, PR, at 4:37 am AST on 9 November 2024 (08:37 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NNW of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

7 km (4 mi) N of Arecibo, PR · 71 km (44 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:37 am AST, Nov 9, 2024 · · 15 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Arecibo Municipio 11 kmHatillo Municipio 11 kmCamuy Municipio 16 kmBarceloneta Municipio 19 kmQuebradillas Municipio 22 kmFlorida Municipio 24 kmManatí Municipio 26 kmUtuado Municipio 27 kmIsabela 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
4:37 am AST on 9 November 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Arecibo Municipio, 11 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 732 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Arecibo, 5 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 5 km, intensity II · Hatillo 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 18 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 41 km E 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 18.5160, -66.7295. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Arecibo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Florida Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 34 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 7 km NE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 19 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 20 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 12 km E of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 9 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 3 km NE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 9 km WSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 8 km ESE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 5 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 5 km NNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 3 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 45 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 44 km N of Hatillo, 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.