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 3:05 pm AST (19:05 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 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of El Negro, PR, at 2:05 am AST on 16 July 2025 (06:05 UTC), 7.6 km deep.

USGS: 18 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico

63 km (39 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 48 km (30 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

2:05 am AST, Jul 16, 2025 · · 7.6 km deep · released about 590 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Negro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yabucoa Municipio 21 kmHumacao Municipio 22 kmMaunabo Municipio 22 kmNaguabo Municipio 28 kmPatillas Municipio 31 kmLas Piedras Municipio 32 kmVieques Municipio 33 kmCeiba Municipio 34 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 37 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
2:05 am AST on 16 July 2025 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of El Negro, PR · earthquakes near El Negro
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yabucoa Municipio, 21 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 484 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 29 km (18 mi) from the epicentre. In El Negro, 19 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: Emajagua 21 km, intensity II · Humacao 26 km, intensity II · Esperanza 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 590 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 26,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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 810 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 17.9590, -65.6932. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) W earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras 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. 1.8 7 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 1 km WSW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 30 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 19 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 4 km WNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 9 km SSE of Daguao, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 2 km SW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 4 km SE of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 29 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 2 km S of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 3 km NNE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 3 km E of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 4 km ESE of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 1 km WSW of G. L. Garcia, 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.