QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 10:39 am AST (14:39 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Esperanza, PR, at 11:19 am AST on 28 October 2026 (15:19 UTC), 34 km deep.

USGS: 10 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

82 km (51 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR

11:19 am AST, Oct 28, 2026 · · 34 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 9 kmCulebra Municipio 29 kmCeiba Municipio 33 kmNaguabo Municipio 41 kmFajardo Municipio 42 kmHumacao Municipio 44 kmLuquillo Municipio 49 kmYabucoa Municipio 52 kmLas Piedras Municipio 54 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
11:19 am AST on 28 October 2026 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
34 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 9 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 14 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Esperanza, 11 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: Isabel Segunda, Culebra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 2,700 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 18.0702, -65.3725. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) NNE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) NW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 44 km (28 mi) W earthquakes near Humacao Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 20 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.2 7 km ESE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 22 km SE of Esperanza, 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.