QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Yaurel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yaurel in the 24 hours to 5:43 pm AST (21:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 42 km (26 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yaurel

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Yaurel, PR, at 6:13 am AST on 21 May 2025 (10:13 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 7 km NNE of Yaurel, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 16 km (10 mi) S of Caguas, PR

6:13 am AST, May 21, 2025 · · 15 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yaurel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Lorenzo Municipio 9 kmPatillas Municipio 11 kmCayey Municipio 12 kmArroyo Municipio 13 kmCaguas Municipio 14 kmCidra Municipio 16 kmGuayama Municipio 17 kmMaunabo Municipio 18 kmYabucoa Municipio 19 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
6:13 am AST on 21 May 2025 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Yaurel, PR · earthquakes near Yaurel
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Lorenzo Municipio, 9 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 539 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Yaurel, 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: G. L. Garcia, Jagual, Patillas, Buena Vista, Palmas, Corazón.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 23,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 22 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 18.0895, -66.0370. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 4 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 6 km N of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 2 km ENE of Parcelas Nuevas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 16 km SSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 5 km W of Rosa Sanchez, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 5 km WSW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 4 km E of Pastos, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 2 km E of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 4 km SW of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 4 km N of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 6 km ENE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 1 km W of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 2 km N of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 0 km ESE of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 6 km SSW of Playita Cortada, 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.