QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

53 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 53 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico, at 9:01 pm AST on 9 August 2018 (01:01 UTC), 35 km deep.

· 35 km deep · released about 79 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 27 kmRincón Municipio 54 kmAguada Municipio 61 kmAñasco Municipio 66 kmAguadilla Municipio 68 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 70 kmHormigueros Municipio 70 kmMoca Municipio 72 kmSan Germán Municipio 79 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 2.3 (md)
Depth
35 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 27 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3016 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. 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 79 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 79 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 1,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 43 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 43 km ESE 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 18.2976, -67.7581. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 54 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 66 km (41 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 61 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.3 61 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 38 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 55 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.3 62 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 47 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.9 23 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 35 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 23 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 53 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 8 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 42 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 20 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 36 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 72 km WSW of Stella, 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.