QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 1:49 pm AST (17:49 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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Mayagüez, PR, at 4:40 am AST on 1 March 2018 (08:40 UTC), 28 km deep.

USGS: 12 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

12 km (7 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 128 km (80 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

4:40 am AST, Mar 1, 2018 · · 28 km deep · released about 100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 15 kmAñasco Municipio 18 kmRincón Municipio 18 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 21 kmAguada Municipio 23 kmSan Germán Municipio 24 kmMoca Municipio 29 kmLas Marías Municipio 30 kmLajas Municipio 31 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
4:40 am AST on 1 March 2018 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 15 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3177 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 Mayagüez, 12 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: Puerto Real, Hormigueros, La Playa, Cabo Rojo, Stella, Añasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 840 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 · 30 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 13 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 13 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 18.1751, -67.2515. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 23 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 13 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 1 km NNE of Sabana Eneas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 8 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 7 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 36 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 0 km W of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 19 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 4 km ESE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 3 km NNW of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 3 km WSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 24 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 8 km S of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 1 km N of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.7 6 km E of Hormigueros, 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.