QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Isabela, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Isabela in the 24 hours to 2:04 am AST (06:04 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 31 km (19 mi) N, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Isabela

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) west of Isabela, PR, at 12:24 am AST on 3 November 2018 (04:24 UTC), 89 km deep.

USGS: 0 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 110 km (68 mi) W of San Juan, PR

12:24 am AST, Nov 3, 2018 · · 89 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Isabela Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 5 kmIsabela Municipio 9 kmMoca Municipio 14 kmAguada Municipio 17 kmQuebradillas Municipio 18 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 24 kmRincón Municipio 24 kmCamuy Municipio 26 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
12:24 am AST on 3 November 2018 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) west of Isabela, PR · earthquakes near Isabela
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
89 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 5 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2852 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Isabela, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Rafael Hernandez, Aceitunas, Caban, Mora, Aguadilla, Moca.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 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 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 480 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 24 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 33 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 14 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 15 km WNW 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 18.5005, -67.0981. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) WSW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 31 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 3 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 3 km N of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 28 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 38 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 9 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 8 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 11 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 15 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 43 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 7 km WNW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 7 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 19 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 2 km NE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 2 km NNW 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.