QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

113 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 113 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico, at 11:36 am AST on 18 September 2018 (15:36 UTC), 39 km deep.

· 39 km deep · released about 350 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 112 kmToa Baja Municipio 115 kmVega Baja Municipio 115 kmCataño Municipio 116 kmVega Alta Municipio 117 kmBarceloneta Municipio 117 kmManatí Municipio 118 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
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
39 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 112 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2976 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. 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 350 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 43,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 31,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 350 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 2016-10-23 — about 340 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 47 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 106 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 14 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 113 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 6 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 19.4858, -66.2641. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 115 km (71 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 115 km (72 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) S earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 117 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 117 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 78 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 70 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 72 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 73 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 72 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 74 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 79 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 70 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 84 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 71 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.3 72 km N of Brenas, 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.