QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 12:12 pm AST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) west of La Playa, PR, at 6:32 am AST on 3 April 2018 (10:32 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

54 km (34 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 113 km (70 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

6:32 am AST, Apr 3, 2018 · · 11 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 33 kmRincón Municipio 43 kmAguada Municipio 50 kmAñasco Municipio 55 kmAguadilla Municipio 58 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 58 kmHormigueros Municipio 59 kmMoca Municipio 61 kmSan Germán Municipio 67 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
6:32 am AST on 3 April 2018 ()
Where
49 km (30 mi) west of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 33 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3144 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In La Playa, 49 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 50,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 560 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 32 km ESE 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 18.2771, -67.6495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) SW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 58 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 51 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 1.8 12 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 50 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 25 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 15 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 51 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.0 54 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.4 20 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 52 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 42 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 48 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 40 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.5 18 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 19 km ESE 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.