QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near G. L. Garcia, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in G. L. Garcia in the 24 hours to 12:26 am AST (04:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 44 km (27 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in G. L. Garcia, PR, at 9:17 pm AST on 23 February 2026 (01:17 UTC), 25 km deep.

USGS: 1 km WSW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico

15 km (9 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR · 32 km (20 mi) S of San Juan, PR

9:17 pm AST, Feb 23, 2026 · · 25 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 4 kmCidra Municipio 8 kmCaguas Municipio 12 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 15 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 15 kmAibonito Municipio 16 kmComerío Municipio 16 kmGuayama Municipio 17 kmArroyo Municipio 18 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
9:17 pm AST on 23 February 2026 ()
Where
in G. L. Garcia, PR · earthquakes near G. L. Garcia
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 4 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 261 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. 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: Cayey, Parcelas Nuevas, Cidra, Parcelas La Milagrosa, Santa Clara, Sumidero.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 20,000 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 · 16 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 48 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 18.1212, -66.1160. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 3 km W of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 6 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 6 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 5 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 7 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 7 km WSW of Naranjito, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 21 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 8 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 6 km S of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 2 km ENE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 8 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 6 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 2 km N of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 1 km SSW of Candelaria Arenas, 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.