QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Bayamón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bayamón in the 24 hours to 2:51 am AST (06:51 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 98 km (61 mi) WSW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bayamón

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Bayamón, PR, at 4:59 am AST on 29 October 2018 (08:59 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km E of Bayamon, Puerto Rico

8 km (5 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

4:59 am AST, Oct 29, 2018 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bayamón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Caguas Municipio 6 kmCidra Municipio 7 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 9 kmCayey Municipio 10 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 13 kmComerío Municipio 14 kmGurabo Municipio 16 kmGuaynabo Municipio 19 kmAibonito 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
4:59 am AST on 29 October 2018 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Bayamón, PR · earthquakes near Bayamón
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Caguas Municipio, 6 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2936 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Bayamón, 25 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: Sumidero 6 km, intensity II · Caguas 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 34,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 10 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 44 km NW 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 18.1785, -66.0935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Caguas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 11 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 2 km SW of Las Ollas, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 1 km NW of H. Rivera Colon, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 3 km SE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 2 km ESE of H. Rivera Colon, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 4 km SSW of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 9 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 2 km ENE of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 5 km E of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 2 km SSE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.0 5 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 4 km SW of Patillas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 18 km ESE of El Negro, 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.