QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 6:02 pm AST (22:02 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northeast of Mayagüez, PR, at 10:16 am AST on 18 September 2018 (14:16 UTC), 30 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

in Mayagüez, PR · 112 km (70 mi) W of San Juan, PR

10:16 am AST, Sep 18, 2018 · · 30 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 7 kmHormigueros Municipio 10 kmLas Marías Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 15 kmMoca Municipio 18 kmAguada Municipio 19 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 19 kmRincón Municipio 20 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
10:16 am AST on 18 September 2018 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) northeast of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
30 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 7 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2976 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 Mayagüez, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Espino, Añasco, Las Marias, Hormigueros, La Playa, Maricao.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 3,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 20 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 28 km W 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 18.2228, -67.1118. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 5 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 1 km ESE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 3 km N of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 1 km NNW of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 6 km WNW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 4 km E of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 8 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 7 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 Puerto Rico region
  10. 1.5 7 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 6 km NW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 1 km SW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 1 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 3 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 3 km ENE 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.