QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Pastos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pastos in the 24 hours to 11:30 pm AST (03:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 32 km (20 mi) SSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pastos

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Pastos, PR, at 10:14 pm AST on 11 November 2018 (02:14 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 3 km ENE of Pastos, Puerto Rico

35 km (22 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 23 km (15 mi) WSW of Caguas, PR

10:14 pm AST, Nov 11, 2018 · · 19 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pastos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aibonito Municipio 3 kmCidra Municipio 9 kmCayey Municipio 9 kmComerío Municipio 10 kmBarranquitas Municipio 11 kmCoamo Municipio 13 kmNaranjito Municipio 18 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 18 kmSalinas Municipio 18 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
10:14 pm AST on 11 November 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Pastos, PR · earthquakes near Pastos
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aibonito Municipio, 3 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2922 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Pastos, 3 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: Aibonito, Parcelas La Milagrosa, Parcelas Nuevas, Vázquez, Cayey, Cidra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 25,000 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 · 18 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 43 km NNW 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 18.1323, -66.2346. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aibonito Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) W earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Barranquitas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Barranquitas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 1 km NW of H. Rivera Colon, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 3 km SE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 2 km ESE of H. Rivera Colon, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 4 km ESE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  6. 1.6 4 km SSW of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 3 km ESE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 8 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 9 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 2 km ENE of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 5 km E of Comerío, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 1 km WNW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 2 km SSE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.0 5 km S of Salinas, 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.