QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 10:12 am AST (14:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Mayagüez, PR, at 6:58 pm AST on 20 February 2018 (22:58 UTC), 98 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ESE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

in Mayagüez, PR · 112 km (70 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

6:58 pm AST, Feb 20, 2018 · · 98 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 6 kmSan Germán Municipio 11 kmAñasco Municipio 11 kmLas Marías Municipio 14 kmMaricao Municipio 18 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 21 kmMoca Municipio 21 kmAguada 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
6:58 pm AST on 20 February 2018 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
98 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 6 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3186 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Mayagüez, 4 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: Hormigueros, Espino, Monte Grande, Añasco, Sabana Eneas, Cabo Rojo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 190 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 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 450 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 24 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 km W 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 18.1875, -67.1021. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 2 km SSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 4 km NNW of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 15 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 7 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 6 km SW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 16 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 7 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 1 km SE of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 39 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 4 km ENE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 1 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 4 km SE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 9 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 5 km NNE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 1 km S of Maricao, 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.