QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 12:12 pm AST (16:12 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west of Rincón, PR, at 1:45 pm AST on 21 January 2018 (17:45 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 16 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

32 km (20 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 142 km (88 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:45 pm AST, Jan 21, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 16 kmAguada Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 30 kmAguadilla Municipio 31 kmMoca Municipio 34 kmHormigueros Municipio 38 kmIsabela Municipio 44 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 45 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 46 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
1:45 pm AST on 21 January 2018 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) west of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 16 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3138 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 16 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 16 km, intensity II · Aguada 23 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 28 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 110 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 30 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 29 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 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 18.3443, -67.4043. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 28 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 24 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 33 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 27 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 3 km N of Monte Grande, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 59 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 26 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 1 km ESE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 3 km SW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 7 km SW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 9 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 18 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 9 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 36 km WSW of Stella, 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.