QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

52 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 52 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico, at 5:27 am AST on 15 December 2018 (09:27 UTC), 19 km deep.

· 19 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 23 kmRincón Municipio 53 kmAguada Municipio 60 kmAñasco Municipio 64 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 65 kmHormigueros Municipio 67 kmAguadilla Municipio 68 kmMoca Municipio 71 kmSan Germán Municipio 76 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
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 23 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2825 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 11 km (7 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 160 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 95,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 68,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 760 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 40 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 40 km ESE 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 18.2423, -67.7401. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 23 km (15 mi) SW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 60 km (38 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 65 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 67 km (42 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 48 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 29 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 10 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 72 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 69 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 59 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.8 59 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 67 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.2 34 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 66 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.3 24 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 18 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 25 km WNW of Rincón, 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.