QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 6:43 am AST (10:43 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 8:41 pm AST on 27 July 2018 (00:41 UTC), 100 km deep.

USGS: 16 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 137 km (85 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:41 pm AST, Jul 27, 2018 · · 100 km deep · released about 550 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 16 kmAguada Municipio 20 kmAguadilla Municipio 24 kmAñasco Municipio 30 kmMoca Municipio 31 kmIsabela Municipio 37 kmHormigueros Municipio 43 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 43 kmQuebradillas Municipio 46 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
8:41 pm AST on 27 July 2018 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
100 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 16 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2957 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. In Rincón, 16 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Stella, Aguada, Aguadilla, Luyando, Caban, La Playa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 550 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 28,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 550 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 220 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 20 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 16 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 19 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW 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 18.4391, -67.3631. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km SSW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 1 km NNE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 25 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 2 km NW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 41 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 3 km E of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 4 km N of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 39 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 24 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 7 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 4 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 4 km S of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 9 km NNE of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 2 km SE of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 39 km W of Rincón, 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.