QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 8:29 am AST (12:29 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 2.9 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 4:42 am AST on 17 January 2018 (08:42 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 17 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

36 km (23 mi) NNW of Mayagüez, PR · 133 km (83 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:42 am AST, Jan 17, 2018 · · 11 km deep · released about 590 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 17 kmAguada Municipio 18 kmAguadilla Municipio 19 kmMoca Municipio 28 kmAñasco Municipio 29 kmIsabela Municipio 33 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 41 kmQuebradillas Municipio 42 kmHormigueros Municipio 44 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
4:42 am AST on 17 January 2018 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) north-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 17 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3220 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 Rincón, 17 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 17 km, intensity II · Aguada 18 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 19 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 590 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 26,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

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 · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 17 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 12 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 23 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 18.4790, -67.3226. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 45 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 16 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 4 km ESE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 28 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 24 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 33 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 27 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 43 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 20 km NNW of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 14 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 3 km N of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 15 km N of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 26 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 1 km ESE 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.