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 12:50 am AST (04:50 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 11 km (7 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR, at 4:25 am AST on 17 October 2018 (08:25 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 11 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 127 km (79 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:25 am AST, Oct 17, 2018 · · 14 km deep · released about 22 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 14 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmRincón Municipio 17 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 22 kmAguada Municipio 22 kmSan Germán Municipio 23 kmMoca Municipio 28 kmLas Marías Municipio 28 kmLajas Municipio 31 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
4:25 am AST on 17 October 2018 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 14 km ESE
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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 11 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: La Playa, Hormigueros, Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, Stella, Añasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 22 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 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 3,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 29 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 30 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 14 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 18.1828, -67.2423. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 23 km (14 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

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

  1. 2.5 6 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 11 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 1 km WSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 5 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 1 km WSW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 1 km SSW of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 2 km SW of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 3 km N of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 4 km NW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 0 km ESE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 14 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 2 km ENE of Aguada, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 0 km NNE of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 4 km N of La Parguera, 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.