QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 3:27 pm AST (19:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Aguadilla, PR, at 8:55 pm AST on 27 December 2018 (00:55 UTC), 49 km deep.

USGS: 21 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

51 km (31 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 125 km (77 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

8:55 pm AST, Dec 27, 2018 · · 49 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguadilla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 20 kmIsabela Municipio 28 kmAguada Municipio 31 kmMoca Municipio 34 kmRincón Municipio 35 kmQuebradillas Municipio 37 kmAñasco Municipio 41 kmCamuy Municipio 44 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 44 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
8:55 pm AST on 27 December 2018 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
49 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 20 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2876 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Aguadilla, 26 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: Caban, Rafael Hernandez, Isabela, Aceitunas, Mora.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 490 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 490 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 170 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 6 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 18 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 11 km S 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 18.6513, -67.2158. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) S earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 14 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.7 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 35 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 3 km ESE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 10 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 29 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 15 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 7 km NNE of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 11 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 10 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 Mona Passage
  13. 3.0 46 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 19 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 13 km N of Isabela, 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.