Earthquake near Sabana Grande, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Sabana Grande in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 16 km (10 mi) SSE of Sabana Grande, at 3:43 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (19:43 UTC); the estimated shaking in Sabana Grande was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Sabana Grande

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Sabana Grande, PR, at 1:28 pm AST on 20 July 2018 (17:28 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 8 km ENE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico

31 km (19 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR · 28 km (18 mi) ESE of Mayagüez, PR

1:28 pm AST, Jul 20, 2018 · 2018-07-20 17:28 UTC · 14 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sabana Grande Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 1:28 pm AST on 20 July 2018 (2018-07-20 17:28 UTC)
Where: 9 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Sabana Grande, PR · earthquakes near Sabana Grande
Magnitude: M 1.6 (md)
Depth: 14 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Yauco Municipio, 5 km SE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3036 days ago · we first saw it 3036 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. In Sabana Grande, 9 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: Lluveras, Liborio Negron Torres, Yauco, Palomas, Maricao, Fuig.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 50 km NW of this epicentre Oct 25, 1918
5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNW of this epicentre May 16, 2010

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Yauco Municipio, PR	5 km (3 mi)	SE	earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR	7 km (4 mi)	WSW	earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR	8 km (5 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR	16 km (10 mi)	SE	earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR	16 km (10 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR	16 km (10 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.8 6 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico 05:47 UTC
1.5 3 km NNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico 03:47 UTC
1.8 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico 00:32 UTC
1.7 7 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico 01:06 UTC
1.6 4 km SSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico 10:40 UTC
1.8 8 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 05:00 UTC
1.8 6 km WSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico 01:56 UTC
1.8 20 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 22:31 UTC
1.6 2 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico 18:27 UTC
2.4 6 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico 15:44 UTC
2.0 1 km W of Guayabal, Puerto Rico 08:23 UTC
1.8 3 km NE of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 05:35 UTC
1.8 0 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 04:49 UTC
1.9 4 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico 23:47 UTC
2.2 1 km SW of Espino, Puerto Rico 20:43 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:34 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.