Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 7:52 pm AST (23:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR, at 5:17 am AST on 20 August 2018 (09:17 UTC), 85 km deep.

USGS: 38 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

56 km (35 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 147 km (92 mi) W of Bayamón, PR

5:17 am AST, Aug 20, 2018 · 2018-08-20 09:17 UTC · 85 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

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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: 5:17 am AST on 20 August 2018 (2018-08-20 09:17 UTC)
Where: 43 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude: M 2.4 (md)
Depth: 85 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Rincón Municipio, 38 km ESE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2932 days ago · we first saw it 2932 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 Aguadilla, 43 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 130 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.4× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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 930 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 43 km ENE of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918
6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 20 km ENE of this epicentre Feb 10, 1920
6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km ESE of this epicentre Oct 25, 1918
6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 32 km W of this epicentre Dec 18, 1922
6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km E of this epicentre Oct 11, 1918

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
Rincón Municipio, PR	38 km (24 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR	42 km (26 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR	43 km (27 mi)	E	earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR	52 km (32 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR	53 km (33 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR	57 km (35 mi)	E	earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

3.0 65 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 21:46 UTC
2.6 29 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico 21:24 UTC
2.8 45 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 10:38 UTC
2.7 44 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 02:31 UTC
2.0 7 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 20:27 UTC
1.9 2 km SE of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 22:39 UTC
2.7 70 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 22:16 UTC
3.3 61 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico 06:42 UTC
2.4 38 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico 04:01 UTC
3.3 62 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico 02:47 UTC
2.7 74 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 11:54 UTC
2.1 51 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 06:47 UTC
1.9 2 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico 16:52 UTC
2.7 51 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 16:41 UTC
2.6 10 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 09:58 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 23:52 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.