QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Espino, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Espino in the 24 hours to 2:34 am AST (06:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) S, at 5:47 pm AST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Espino

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Espino, PR, at 11:02 pm AST on 2 December 2018 (03:02 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 6 km ENE of Espino, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) NE of Mayagüez, PR · 106 km (66 mi) W of San Juan, PR

11:02 pm AST, Dec 2, 2018 · · 14 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Espino Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 8 kmMoca Municipio 9 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 10 kmLas Marías Municipio 11 kmAguada Municipio 16 kmHormigueros Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 19 kmLares Municipio 20 kmRincón Municipio 21 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
11:02 pm AST on 2 December 2018 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Espino, PR · earthquakes near Espino
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 8 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2902 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 Espino, 7 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: San Sebastián 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 2,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 34 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 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 18.2946, -67.0603. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) W earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Moca Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 4 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 2 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 3 km WSW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 2 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 5 km W of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 4 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 2 km NNE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 2 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 28 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 7 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 12 km SSE of Lares, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 2 km ESE of Bajadero, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 9 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 4 km NNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 11 km N of Quebradillas, 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.