QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Aguada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguada in the 24 hours to 5:52 pm AST (21:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 7 km (5 mi) ENE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguada

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Aguada, PR, at 8:51 am AST on 20 October 2018 (12:51 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Aguada, Puerto Rico

20 km (13 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 117 km (72 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:51 am AST, Oct 20, 2018 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguada Municipio 2 kmMoca Municipio 9 kmRincón Municipio 10 kmAguadilla Municipio 11 kmAñasco Municipio 11 kmIsabela Municipio 20 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 22 kmLas Marías Municipio 27 kmQuebradillas Municipio 27 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
8:51 am AST on 20 October 2018 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Aguada, PR · earthquakes near Aguada
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguada Municipio, 2 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2944 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguada, 2 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.

Likely felt in: Aguada 2 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 5 km, intensity II · Rincón 10 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 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 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 34 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 8 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 20 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 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 18.3835, -67.1688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguada Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) WSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  2. 2.1 1 km E of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 1 km S of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 2 km SSW of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 15 km N of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 34 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 10 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 7 km NNW of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 35 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 2 km W of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 0 km E of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 1 km SW of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 6 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 37 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 0 km N of San Antonio, 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.