QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico, 88 km (55 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR, at 9:29 am AST on 13 July 2018 (13:29 UTC), 34 km deep.

88 km (55 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR

· 34 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 70 kmVega Baja Municipio 71 kmManatí Municipio 72 kmDorado Municipio 73 kmVega Alta Municipio 75 kmArecibo Municipio 76 kmToa Baja Municipio 77 kmHatillo Municipio 80 kmCataño Municipio 80 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
34 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 70 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2962 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 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 930 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 35 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 19 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 11 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 57 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 47 km W 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 19.0920, -66.4841. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) S earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 73 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 75 km (46 mi) SSE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) SSW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 61 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 60 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 75 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 59 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 40 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 74 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 48 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 33 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 42 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 68 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 65 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 57 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 70 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 68 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 67 km N of Brenas, 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.