QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.3mb

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 4:29 am AST (08:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 10:33 am AST on 14 October 2017 (14:33 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 21 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

40 km (25 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 143 km (89 mi) W of San Juan, PR

10:33 am AST, Oct 14, 2017 · · 10 km deep · released about 43 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 22 kmAguada Municipio 26 kmAguadilla Municipio 29 kmAñasco Municipio 35 kmMoca Municipio 36 kmIsabela Municipio 42 kmHormigueros Municipio 48 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 49 kmQuebradillas Municipio 51 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
10:33 am AST on 14 October 2017 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 4.3 (mb)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 22 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3228 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 121 km (75 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 22 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 22 km, intensity III · Aguada 25 km, intensity III · Aguadilla 28 km, intensity III · Rafael Hernandez 35 km, intensity III · Mayagüez 41 km, intensity III · Isabela 41 km, intensity III · San Sebastián 47 km, intensity III · Puerto Real 49 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.3 about 43 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 89× more

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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 1.4 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 18 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 22 km ENE 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 18.4568, -67.4137. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) E 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. 2.1 10 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 42 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 16 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 Mona Passage
  5. 3.1 17 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 Mona Passage
  7. 2.6 31 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 15 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 19 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 11 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 4 km W of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 22 km W of Puerto Real, 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.