QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of La Playa, PR, at 11:44 am AST on 19 January 2018 (15:44 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ESE of La Playa, Puerto Rico

9 km (6 mi) NNW of Mayagüez, PR · 117 km (73 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:44 am AST, Jan 19, 2018 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 4 kmAguada Municipio 11 kmRincón Municipio 11 kmMoca Municipio 14 kmHormigueros Municipio 17 kmLas Marías Municipio 21 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 22 kmAguadilla Municipio 22 kmSan Germán Municipio 23 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
11:44 am AST on 19 January 2018 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 4 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3218 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In La Playa, 2 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: Mayagüez 9 km, intensity II · Rincón 11 km, intensity II · Aguada 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 3,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 km N 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 18.2800, -67.1658. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) ESE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 23 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 22 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 23 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 28 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 34 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 4 km NW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 12 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 6 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 18 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 4 km ENE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 5 km NNW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 5 km N of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 7 km WSW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 10 km N of Hatillo, 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.