QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 1:35 pm AST (17:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 4:59 pm AST on 16 August 2018 (20:59 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 22 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

70 km (43 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 55 km (34 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

4:59 pm AST, Aug 16, 2018 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 28 kmVieques Municipio 28 kmYabucoa Municipio 29 kmMaunabo Municipio 30 kmNaguabo Municipio 32 kmCeiba Municipio 34 kmLas Piedras Municipio 38 kmPatillas Municipio 40 kmJuncos Municipio 44 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
4:59 pm AST on 16 August 2018 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 28 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3009 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 23 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: Esperanza 23 km, intensity II · Emajagua 29 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 29 km, intensity II · Humacao 32 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× more

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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9435, -65.6160. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) NW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) NE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) N earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 38 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 27 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 8 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 10 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 9 km SSW of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 9 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 29 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 5 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 21 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 9 km ENE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 4 km SW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 18 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 11 km S of Emajagua, 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.