QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 11:31 am AST (15:31 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) west-southwest of Rincón, PR, at 4:57 pm AST on 13 May 2018 (20:57 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 45 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

56 km (35 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 114 km (71 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

4:57 pm AST, May 13, 2018 · · 23 km deep · released about 830 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 28 kmRincón Municipio 46 kmAguada Municipio 54 kmAñasco Municipio 57 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 58 kmHormigueros Municipio 60 kmAguadilla Municipio 62 kmMoca Municipio 64 kmSan Germán Municipio 68 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
4:57 pm AST on 13 May 2018 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) west-southwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 28 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3017 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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 46 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 830 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 35 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 32 km E of this epicentre
  3. 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 18.2366, -67.6710. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) SW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 54 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 4 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 53 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.5 15 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 23 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 60 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.2 36 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 38 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 26 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 26 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 56 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.0 7 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 6 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 5 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 52 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.7 21 km WSW of Stella, 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.