QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8Md

Earthquake near Vieques, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vieques in the 24 hours to 5:29 pm AST (21:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 74 km (46 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vieques

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Vieques, PR, at 12:00 am AST on 12 November 2016 (04:00 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

27 km (17 mi) E of San Juan, PR · 18 km (11 mi) E of Carolina, PR

12:00 am AST, Nov 12, 2016 · · 16 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Vieques Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Río Grande Municipio 6 kmLuquillo Municipio 13 kmCanóvanas Municipio 14 kmLoíza Municipio 14 kmCarolina Municipio 17 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 23 kmFajardo Municipio 24 kmGurabo Municipio 25 kmJuncos Municipio 25 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
12:00 am AST on 12 November 2016 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Vieques, PR · earthquakes near Vieques
Magnitude
M 1.8 (Md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Río Grande Municipio, 6 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3652 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. In Vieques, 3 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: Suárez, Río Grande, Hato Candal, Loíza, Palmer, La Dolores.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 39 km WSW 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 18.4326, -65.8093. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Río Grande Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) S earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) WSW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) WSW earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 20 km NNW of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 46 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 2 km WSW of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 1 km SSE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km WSW of Gurabo, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 17 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 2 km SW of Canovanas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 1 km ESE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 14 km W of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 4 km NNW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 1 km WSW of Campo Rico, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 3 km W of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 1 km WSW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 6 km S of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 7 km N of Vieques, 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.