QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 8:35 pm AST (00:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) southwest of Stella, PR, at 9:09 am AST on 16 October 2018 (13:09 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 20 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico

25 km (15 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 141 km (88 mi) W of San Juan, PR

9:09 am AST, Oct 16, 2018 · · 19 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 22 kmHormigueros Municipio 28 kmAñasco Municipio 29 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 29 kmAguada Municipio 30 kmSan Germán Municipio 37 kmMoca Municipio 38 kmAguadilla Municipio 41 kmLajas Municipio 42 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
9:09 am AST on 16 October 2018 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 22 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2948 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 Stella, 21 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: Rincón, Puerto Real, La Playa, Mayagüez, Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 6,900 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. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 1 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 18.1800, -67.3766. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 7 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 Mona Passage
  5. 2.6 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 9 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 7 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 42 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 8 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 9 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 6 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 2 km SSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 5 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 9 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 6 km WSW 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.