QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Mariano Colón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mariano Colón in the 24 hours to 2:32 pm AST (18:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, in Mariano Colón, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mariano Colón

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Mariano Colón, PR, at 6:16 pm AST on 14 November 2018 (22:16 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 0 km WNW of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico

51 km (32 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) E of Ponce, PR

6:16 pm AST, Nov 14, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Coamo Municipio 9 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 10 kmSalinas Municipio 10 kmAibonito Municipio 14 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 17 kmVillalba Municipio 19 kmBarranquitas Municipio 20 kmCayey Municipio 21 kmGuayama Municipio 22 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
6:16 pm AST on 14 November 2018 ()
Where
in Mariano Colón, PR · earthquakes near Mariano Colón
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Coamo Municipio, 9 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2919 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 5 km (3 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Parcelas Peñuelas, Las Ochenta, El Ojo, Coamo, Salinas, Jauca.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 34 km NE 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 18.0243, -66.3368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Coamo Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 2 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 9 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 9 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 12 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  14. 1.8 1 km NW of H. Rivera Colon, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 3 km SE of Santa Isabel, 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.