QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Jobos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jobos in the 24 hours to 12:56 pm AST (16:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (18 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jobos

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south of Jobos, PR, at 3:19 pm AST on 25 January 2018 (19:19 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico

61 km (38 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 43 km (27 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

3:19 pm AST, Jan 25, 2018 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayama Municipio 12 kmSalinas Municipio 16 kmArroyo Municipio 17 kmPatillas Municipio 24 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 26 kmCayey Municipio 27 kmMaunabo Municipio 32 kmAibonito Municipio 32 kmCoamo Municipio 34 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
3:19 pm AST on 25 January 2018 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) south of Jobos, PR · earthquakes near Jobos
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayama Municipio, 12 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3212 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Jobos, 10 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: Central Aguirre, Guayama, Coquí, Arroyo, Olimpo, Corazón.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 45,000 times the energy of this one.

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 · 44 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 17.8640, -66.1583. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayama Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) N earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 2 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 3 km S of Palmas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 7 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.9 6 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 1 km SSW of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 13 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 8 km S of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 8 km S of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 13 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 6 km SE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 4 km SE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 3 km ESE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 5 km ESE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 4 km SW of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 Puerto Rico region

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.