QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 6 km (4 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR, at 8:29 pm AST on 24 May 2018 (00:29 UTC), 16 km deep.

6 km (4 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 122 km (76 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

· 16 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 9 kmAñasco Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 18 kmRincón Municipio 19 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 20 kmAguada Municipio 22 kmLas Marías Municipio 24 kmMoca Municipio 26 kmLajas Municipio 27 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 9 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3093 days ago

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

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mayagüez, Hormigueros, Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, La Playa, Monte Grande.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 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 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 4,600 times the energy of this one.

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 18.1738, -67.1960. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Aguada 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. 1.8 4 km SSE of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 4 km SE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 3 km NE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 5 km SW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 15 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 1 km SW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 6 km SW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 1 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 2 km S of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 1 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 2 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 3 km NE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 1 km SSE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 23 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km N of Lluveras, 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.