QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

52 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 52 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico, at 7:17 pm AST on 18 October 2018 (23:17 UTC), 11 km deep.

· 11 km deep · released about 150 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 28 kmRincón Municipio 52 kmAguada Municipio 59 kmAñasco Municipio 64 kmAguadilla Municipio 66 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 68 kmHormigueros Municipio 68 kmMoca Municipio 70 kmSan Germán Municipio 77 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 2.5 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 28 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2947 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 790 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km ESE 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 18.2920, -67.7400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 60 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 2.8 59 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 1.9 19 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 16 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 16 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 39 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 67 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.5 18 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 65 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.7 49 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.1 47 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.9 60 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.1 34 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 73 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 74 km W of Puerto Real, 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.