QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

50 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 50 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico, at 8:11 am AST on 3 May 2018 (12:11 UTC), 23 km deep.

· 23 km deep · released about 630 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 45 kmRincón Municipio 50 kmAguada Municipio 56 kmAguadilla Municipio 60 kmAñasco Municipio 64 kmMoca Municipio 67 kmHormigueros Municipio 72 kmIsabela Municipio 73 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 76 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 45 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3114 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. 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 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 190 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 · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 16 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 33 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 48 km SE 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 18.4565, -67.7101. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 67 km (42 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 26 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 42 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 56 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.3 6 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 54 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 5 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 52 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.7 21 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 2 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 4 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 29 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 Mona Passage
  13. 2.8 22 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 45 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.4 69 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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.