QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 2:16 am AST (06:16 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR, at 9:28 pm AST on 2 December 2018 (01:28 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 16 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

27 km (16 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 140 km (87 mi) W of San Juan, PR

9:28 pm AST, Dec 2, 2018 · · 17 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 17 kmAguada Municipio 25 kmAñasco Municipio 27 kmHormigueros Municipio 32 kmMoca Municipio 35 kmAguadilla Municipio 35 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 36 kmSan Germán Municipio 40 kmLas Marías Municipio 43 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
9:28 pm AST on 2 December 2018 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 17 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2901 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Stella, 16 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: Rincón, La Playa, Aguada, Las Marias, Añasco, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 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 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 1,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 39 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 27 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 37 km ENE 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 18.2608, -67.3848. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7 km W of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 4 km N of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 28 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 3 km N of Juncal, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 48 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 5 km WNW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 0 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 34 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 3 km SW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 3 km ENE of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 3 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 2 km NNE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 2 km ENE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 4 km ESE of Maricao, 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.