QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Yaurel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Yaurel in the 24 hours to 5:56 pm AST (21:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 42 km (26 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yaurel

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) northwest of Yaurel, PR, at 11:07 pm AST on 16 October 2018 (03:07 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NW of Yaurel, Puerto Rico

38 km (24 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 20 km (13 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

11:07 pm AST, Oct 16, 2018 · · 19 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yaurel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 7 kmGuayama Municipio 10 kmArroyo Municipio 12 kmCidra Municipio 14 kmPatillas Municipio 15 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 17 kmCaguas Municipio 18 kmAibonito Municipio 18 kmSalinas Municipio 19 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
11:07 pm AST on 16 October 2018 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) northwest of Yaurel, PR · earthquakes near Yaurel
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 7 km NW
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Yaurel, 7 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: Olimpo, G. L. Garcia, Corazón, Cayey, Guayama, Buena Vista.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 3,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 22 km N 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 18.0621, -66.1076. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) NW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSW earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km SSW of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 9 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 2 km ENE of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 5 km E of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 2 km SSE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.0 5 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 4 km SW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 18 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 2 km N of Carolina, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 7 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 4 km ESE of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 Puerto Rico region

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.