QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Santa Isabel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Isabel in the 24 hours to 4:29 pm AST (20:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Isabel

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Santa Isabel, PR, at 12:41 am AST on 14 December 2018 (04:41 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

62 km (38 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 26 km (16 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

12:41 am AST, Dec 14, 2018 · · 13 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Isabel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 2 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 13 kmSalinas Municipio 13 kmCoamo Municipio 18 kmVillalba Municipio 23 kmPonce Municipio 25 kmAibonito Municipio 25 kmGuayama Municipio 26 kmBarranquitas Municipio 30 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
12:41 am AST on 14 December 2018 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) southeast of Santa Isabel, PR · earthquakes near Santa Isabel
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 2 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2890 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 Santa Isabel, 4 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: Jauca, El Ojo, Playita Cortada, Parcelas Peñuelas, Las Ochenta, Las Ollas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 · 44 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 17.9398, -66.3833. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 1 km NNW of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 12 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 9 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 7 km SSW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.5 4 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 11 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.0 9 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 8 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 2 km WNW of Santo Domingo, 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.