Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 12:43 am AST (04:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR, at 4:45 am AST on 18 September 2016 (08:45 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 37 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

56 km (35 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 148 km (92 mi) W of Bayamón, PR

4:45 am AST, Sep 18, 2016 · 2016-09-18 08:45 UTC · 16 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

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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: 4:45 am AST on 18 September 2016 (2016-09-18 08:45 UTC)
Where: 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude: M 2.9 (Md)
Depth: 16 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Rincón Municipio, 38 km ESE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3621 days ago · we first saw it 3621 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguadilla, 44 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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:

7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km ENE of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918
6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km ENE of this epicentre Feb 10, 1920
6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km ESE of this epicentre Oct 25, 1918
6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 32 km W of this epicentre Dec 18, 1922
6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km E of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR	38 km (24 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR	42 km (26 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR	44 km (27 mi)	E	earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR	52 km (32 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR	53 km (33 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR	58 km (36 mi)	E	earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.7 35 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 17:23 UTC
3.1 63 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico 08:16 UTC
3.4 54 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 06:13 UTC
2.4 32 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico 00:09 UTC
2.9 6 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 05:39 UTC
2.8 6 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 04:12 UTC
2.9 33 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 11:08 UTC
2.8 34 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico 03:43 UTC
2.8 Mona Passage 13:44 UTC
2.2 48 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico 15:11 UTC
2.0 4 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 22:14 UTC
2.7 55 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico 04:50 UTC
3.1 Mona Passage 01:38 UTC
2.5 36 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico 22:25 UTC
2.3 2 km SSE of La Playa, Puerto Rico 00:07 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 04:43 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.