QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Santa Clara, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Clara in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (30 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Clara

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Santa Clara, PR, at 3:18 pm AST on 17 July 2025 (19:18 UTC), 33 km deep.

USGS: 2 km N of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico

20 km (12 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 9 km (6 mi) W of Caguas, PR

3:18 pm AST, Jul 17, 2025 · · 33 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Clara Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 2 kmCidra Municipio 8 kmCaguas Municipio 8 kmComerío Municipio 10 kmGuaynabo Municipio 12 kmBayamón Municipio 13 kmNaranjito Municipio 15 kmCayey Municipio 15 kmGurabo Municipio 16 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
3:18 pm AST on 17 July 2025 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Santa Clara, PR · earthquakes near Santa Clara
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 2 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 482 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 Santa Clara, 3 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: Sumidero, Aguas Buenas, Cidra, Caguas, Bairoa, Parcelas La Milagrosa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 3 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 37 km NW 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 18.2372, -66.1262. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) N earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ESE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 1 km S of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 4 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 1 km WSW of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 4 km NNW of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 1 km NE of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 5 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.5 1 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 2 km S of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 2 km SE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 6 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 10 km S of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 9 km S of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 3 km SW of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 4 km NW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 4 km WNW of Orocovis, 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.