QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 4:28 pm AST (20:28 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 9:35 pm AST on 17 May 2018 (01:35 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 17 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 142 km (88 mi) W of San Juan, PR

9:35 pm AST, May 17, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 18 kmAguada Municipio 24 kmAguadilla Municipio 30 kmAñasco Municipio 32 kmMoca Municipio 35 kmHormigueros Municipio 42 kmIsabela Municipio 43 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 47 kmLas Marías Municipio 49 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
9:35 pm AST on 17 May 2018 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 18 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3100 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. In Rincón, 18 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 25 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 26 km NE 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 18.3920, -67.4113. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 5 km SW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 15 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 6 km SW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 56 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 3 km NE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 23 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 36 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 1 km NNE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 38 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 26 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 39 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 8 km NNE of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 42 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 26 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 7 km NW of Puerto Real, 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.