QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Espino, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Espino in the 24 hours to 3:30 pm AST (19:30 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Espino, PR, at 1:56 pm AST on 6 December 2018 (17:56 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 3 km ESE of Espino, Puerto Rico

8 km (5 mi) NE of Mayagüez, PR · 110 km (68 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:56 pm AST, Dec 6, 2018 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Espino Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 5 kmLas Marías Municipio 13 kmMoca Municipio 13 kmHormigueros Municipio 14 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 15 kmAguada Municipio 16 kmSan Germán Municipio 18 kmRincón Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 19 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
1:56 pm AST on 6 December 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Espino, PR · earthquakes near Espino
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 5 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2899 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Espino, 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.

Likely felt in: Mayagüez 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 3,700 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. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 24 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 16 km N 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 18.2606, -67.0916. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NW earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2 km NNE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 1 km W of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 4 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 2 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 3 km WSW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 5 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 15 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 30 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 2 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 5 km W of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 4 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 2 km NNE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 2 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 28 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 7 km WSW of Las Marías, 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.