QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Aguada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguada in the 24 hours to 3:22 pm AST (19:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 7 km (5 mi) ENE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguada

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Aguada, PR, at 11:17 pm AST on 7 September 2016 (03:17 UTC), 29 km deep.

USGS: 4 km WNW of Aguada, Puerto Rico

24 km (15 mi) NNW of Mayagüez, PR · 123 km (76 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:17 pm AST, Sep 7, 2016 · · 29 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguada Municipio 5 kmRincón Municipio 7 kmAguadilla Municipio 13 kmMoca Municipio 16 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmIsabela Municipio 25 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 28 kmHormigueros Municipio 32 kmLas Marías Municipio 33 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
11:17 pm AST on 7 September 2016 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Aguada, PR · earthquakes near Aguada
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
29 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguada Municipio, 5 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3631 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 Aguada, 5 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: Rincón, Luyando, Aguadilla, Stella, Caban, Moca.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 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 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 29 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 17 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 27 km N 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 18.3988, -67.2295. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguada Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 2 km NNW of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 17 km N of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 22 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 24 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 5 km NNE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 4 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 32 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 7 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 7 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 2 km NW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 2 km SSW of La Playa, 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.