QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 9:49 pm AST (01:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR, at 9:37 pm AST on 9 August 2018 (01:37 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 39 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

50 km (31 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 107 km (67 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

9:37 pm AST, Aug 9, 2018 · · 11 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 33 kmRincón Municipio 40 kmAguada Municipio 48 kmAñasco Municipio 51 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 52 kmHormigueros Municipio 53 kmAguadilla Municipio 57 kmMoca Municipio 58 kmSan Germán Municipio 62 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
9:37 pm AST on 9 August 2018 ()
Where
50 km (31 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 33 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3016 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 50 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 470 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 40 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 26 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 26 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 18.2300, -67.6113. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 51 km (32 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 52 km (33 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 61 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 38 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.3 62 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 4 km NNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 2 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 10 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 7 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 7 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 4 km NNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 19 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 23 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 6 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 35 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 16 km WNW of Pole Ojea, 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.