QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 12:59 pm AST (16:59 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Rincón, PR, at 8:15 pm AST on 31 January 2018 (00:15 UTC), 79 km deep.

USGS: 7 km WSW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

23 km (14 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 132 km (82 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:15 pm AST, Jan 31, 2018 · · 79 km deep · released about 140 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 7 kmAguada Municipio 15 kmAñasco Municipio 20 kmAguadilla Municipio 25 kmMoca Municipio 25 kmHormigueros Municipio 30 kmIsabela Municipio 36 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 37 kmLas Marías Municipio 37 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
8:15 pm AST on 31 January 2018 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
79 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 7 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3206 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Rincón, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Stella, La Playa, Aguada, Luyando, Las Marias, Añasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 140 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 75,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 140 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 840 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 17 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 26 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNE 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 18.3270, -67.3151. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros 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. 2.8 37 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 5 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 12 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 4 km E of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 1 km WNW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 4 km NW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 25 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 3 km E of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 45 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 1 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 3 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 16 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 10 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 4 km ESE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 28 km W of Puerto Real, 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.