QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Aguada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguada in the 24 hours to 10:47 am AST (14:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 7 km (5 mi) ENE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguada

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Aguada, PR, at 12:40 pm AST on 20 March 2018 (16:40 UTC), 25 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WNW of Aguada, Puerto Rico

25 km (15 mi) NNW of Mayagüez, PR · 124 km (77 mi) W of San Juan, PR

12:40 pm AST, Mar 20, 2018 · · 25 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguada Municipio 6 kmRincón Municipio 7 kmAguadilla Municipio 13 kmMoca Municipio 17 kmAñasco Municipio 17 kmIsabela Municipio 25 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 29 kmHormigueros Municipio 32 kmQuebradillas Municipio 33 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
12:40 pm AST on 20 March 2018 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Aguada, PR · earthquakes near Aguada
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguada Municipio, 6 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3158 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 Aguada, 6 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: Rincón, Stella, Aguadilla, Luyando, Caban, Moca.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 1,100 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 · 33 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 16 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 27 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 18.4031, -67.2368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguada Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) ENE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 2 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 3 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 3 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 5 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 1 km NNW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 29 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 2 km SSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 22 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 17 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 2 km NE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 25 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 4 km SW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 38 km NW of Rincón, 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.