QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Buena Vista, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Buena Vista in the 24 hours to 12:55 pm AST (16:55 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 41 km (26 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Buena Vista

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in Buena Vista, PR, at 2:19 am AST on 12 May 2018 (06:19 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NNE of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico

45 km (28 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 25 km (16 mi) S of Caguas, PR

2:19 am AST, May 12, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Buena Vista Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Arroyo Municipio 4 kmPatillas Municipio 6 kmGuayama Municipio 10 kmCayey Municipio 16 kmMaunabo Municipio 16 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 18 kmYabucoa Municipio 21 kmCidra Municipio 22 kmCaguas Municipio 23 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
2:19 am AST on 12 May 2018 ()
Where
in Buena Vista, PR · earthquakes near Buena Vista
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Arroyo Municipio, 4 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3105 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 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.

Likely felt in: Guayama 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNW 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 18.0045, -66.0466. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Arroyo Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 9 km SSE of Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 0 km W of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 9 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 12 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 1 km SE of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 1 km NE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 2 km NE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 4 km SE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 0 km NNE of Las Ollas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 3 km SW of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 2 km SW of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 7 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 4 km NNE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.5 0 km NNW of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 5 km ENE of G. L. Garcia, 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.