QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6Md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 4:35 am AST (08:35 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 11:00 am AST on 20 December 2016 (15:00 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 13 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

33 km (20 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 134 km (83 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:00 am AST, Dec 20, 2016 · · 19 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 13 kmAguada Municipio 17 kmAguadilla Municipio 21 kmAñasco Municipio 27 kmMoca Municipio 27 kmIsabela Municipio 34 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 40 kmHormigueros Municipio 40 kmQuebradillas Municipio 43 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
11:00 am AST on 20 December 2016 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.6 (Md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 13 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3528 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 13 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 17 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 km NE 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 18.4305, -67.3339. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 0 km NNW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 13 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 Mona Passage
  4. 3.2 36 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 28 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 1 km SSE of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 13 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 24 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 16 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 0 km ENE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 8 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 41 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 22 km NNE of Isabela, 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.