QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Palo Seco, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Palo Seco in the 24 hours to 2:07 pm AST (18:07 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 13 km (8 mi) ESE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Palo Seco

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) south of Palo Seco, PR, at 10:06 am AST on 26 May 2018 (14:06 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 3 km S of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico

50 km (31 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 31 km (19 mi) SSE of Caguas, PR

10:06 am AST, May 26, 2018 · · 10 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palo Seco Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 6 kmPatillas Municipio 6 kmArroyo Municipio 11 kmYabucoa Municipio 13 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 20 kmGuayama Municipio 21 kmHumacao Municipio 24 kmLas Piedras Municipio 25 kmCayey 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
10:06 am AST on 26 May 2018 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) south of Palo Seco, PR · earthquakes near Palo Seco
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 6 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3004 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 Palo Seco, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Emajagua 7 km, intensity II · Guayama 19 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 1,000 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 · 38 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 17.9715, -65.9391. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 6 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) W earthquakes near Guayama 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. 2.0 25 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 22 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.0 4 km ESE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 3 km SSE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 9 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 10 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 7 km E of Naranjito, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 2 km N of Coquí, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 2 km NNE of Coquí, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 6 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 2 km SW of Bajandas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 7 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 2 km E of La Fermina, 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.