QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 9:03 am AST (13:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 7:32 am AST on 14 September 2025 (11:32 UTC), 6.7 km deep.

USGS: 18 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

62 km (39 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 49 km (31 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

7:32 am AST, Sep 14, 2025 · · 6.7 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 21 kmNaguabo Municipio 24 kmVieques Municipio 24 kmYabucoa Municipio 25 kmCeiba Municipio 26 kmMaunabo Municipio 28 kmLas Piedras Municipio 31 kmJuncos Municipio 37 kmPatillas Municipio 38 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
7:32 am AST on 14 September 2025 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 21 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 423 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Punta Santiago, Bajandas, Daguao, El Negro, Candelero Arriba, Naguabo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 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 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 11,000 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 18.0233, -65.6295. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) W earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) W earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 21 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.7 29 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 11 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 30 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 5 km W of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 7 km ESE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 30 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 19 km WSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 4 km WNW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 9 km SSE of Daguao, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 2 km SW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 4 km SE of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 29 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 3 km E 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.