QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 2:08 am AST (06:08 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) west of Rincón, PR, at 1:52 am AST on 21 August 2018 (05:52 UTC), 134 km deep.

USGS: 21 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 147 km (91 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:52 am AST, Aug 21, 2018 · · 134 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 21 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmAñasco Municipio 34 kmAguadilla Municipio 37 kmMoca Municipio 40 kmHormigueros Municipio 41 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 46 kmIsabela Municipio 50 kmSan Germán Municipio 50 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
1:52 am AST on 21 August 2018 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) west of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
134 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 21 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2933 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, 22 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, La Playa, Aguada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 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 68,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 540 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 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 18.3211, -67.4530. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

41 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. 2.3 1 km SW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 10 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 7 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 6 km WSW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 23 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 7 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 4 km SW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 5 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 4 km NNW of Mayagüez, 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.