QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 2:14 am AST (06:14 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west of Stella, PR, at 8:47 pm AST on 18 December 2018 (00:47 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 3 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico

20 km (12 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 129 km (80 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:47 pm AST, Dec 18, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 4 kmAguada Municipio 12 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmMoca Municipio 22 kmAguadilla Municipio 23 kmHormigueros Municipio 27 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 33 kmLas Marías Municipio 34 kmIsabela Municipio 34 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
8:47 pm AST on 18 December 2018 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) west of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2885 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Stella, 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.

Likely felt in: Rincón 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 5,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 16 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNE 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 18.3170, -67.2818. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 16 km WSW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 22 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 0 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 1 km S of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 47 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 0 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 8 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 25 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 45 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 26 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 21 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 7 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.5 6 km NNE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 7 km NNE of Lluveras, 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.