QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Caban, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Caban in the 24 hours to 4:26 pm AST (20:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 5 km (3 mi) SSE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Caban

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northwest of Caban, PR, at 2:55 am AST on 4 May 2018 (06:55 UTC), 96 km deep.

USGS: 4 km NW of Caban, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 117 km (73 mi) W of San Juan, PR

2:55 am AST, May 4, 2018 · · 96 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Caban Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 3 kmAguada Municipio 11 kmMoca Municipio 14 kmIsabela Municipio 17 kmRincón Municipio 17 kmAñasco Municipio 21 kmQuebradillas Municipio 26 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 26 kmCamuy 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
2:55 am AST on 4 May 2018 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) northwest of Caban, PR · earthquakes near Caban
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
96 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 3 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3029 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 Caban, 5 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: Aguadilla, Rafael Hernandez, Aguada, Moca, Aceitunas, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 780 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 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 110 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 25 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 28 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 6 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 11 km NW 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 18.4718, -67.1716. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 Mona Passage
  2. 2.8 54 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 5 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 2 km SSW of Sabana Eneas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 21 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 2 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 4 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 4 km NE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 29 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 11 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 Mona Passage
  12. 2.8 22 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 1 km NNE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 5 km N of Sabana Eneas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 4 km NNW of Arecibo, 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.