QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:58 pm AST (16:58 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Salinas, PR, at 11:22 pm AST on 26 May 2018 (03:22 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico

59 km (37 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 34 km (21 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

11:22 pm AST, May 26, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 7 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 8 kmGuayama Municipio 19 kmCoamo Municipio 20 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 20 kmAibonito Municipio 23 kmCayey Municipio 26 kmVillalba Municipio 28 kmArroyo Municipio 29 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
11:22 pm AST on 26 May 2018 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 7 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3090 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 5 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Las Ochenta, Jauca, Parcelas Peñuelas, Central Aguirre, Coco, Coquí.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 16,000 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 · 41 km NNE 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 17.9301, -66.3128. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 9 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 12 km S of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 4 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 1 km NE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 2 km NE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 0 km NNE of Las Ollas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 3 km SW of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 2 km SW of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 7 km SSW of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 1 km S of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 0 km NNW of Buena Vista, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 14 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 5 km ENE of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 0 km SE of Adjuntas, 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.