QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 4:19 pm AST (20:19 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) west of Rincón, PR, at 11:59 pm AST on 19 July 2018 (03:59 UTC), 2.0 km deep.

USGS: 19 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

36 km (22 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 144 km (90 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:59 pm AST, Jul 19, 2018 · · 2.0 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 19 kmAguada Municipio 26 kmAguadilla Municipio 33 kmAñasco Municipio 33 kmMoca Municipio 37 kmHormigueros Municipio 42 kmIsabela Municipio 46 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 49 kmCabo Rojo 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
11:59 pm AST on 19 July 2018 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) west of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 19 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3037 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 20 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 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 83,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 59,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 660 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 28 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 24 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 29 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 18.3693, -67.4323. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 37 km (23 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

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

  1. 2.3 53 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 56 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 2 km W of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 6 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 12 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 18 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 7 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 42 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 44 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 56 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 6 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 33 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 4 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 1 km SW of Espino, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 6 km WSW of San Sebastián, 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.