QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

72 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 72 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico, at 5:43 am AST on 12 May 2018 (09:43 UTC), 53 km deep.

· 53 km deep · released about 590 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 72 kmIsabela Municipio 79 kmAguada Municipio 80 kmRincón Municipio 82 kmMoca Municipio 85 kmQuebradillas Municipio 86 kmAñasco Municipio 92 kmCamuy Municipio 93 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 96 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
53 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 72 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3105 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. 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 590 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 26,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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 4.2 on 2017-08-27 — about 95 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.8 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 80 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 46 km W 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 19.0471, -67.4713. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 82 km (51 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 86 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas 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. 2.7 46 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 61 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 40 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 Mona Passage
  6. 2.8 45 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 107 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.2 52 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 46 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 32 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 39 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 43 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 59 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 62 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 94 km NW of San Antonio, 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.