QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Parcelas Nuevas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Parcelas Nuevas in the 24 hours to 11:02 pm AST (03:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 40 km (25 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Parcelas Nuevas

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Parcelas Nuevas, PR, at 9:43 pm AST on 27 December 2018 (01:43 UTC), 35 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Parcelas Nuevas, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 15 km (9 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

9:43 pm AST, Dec 27, 2018 · · 35 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Parcelas Nuevas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cidra Municipio 3 kmCayey Municipio 5 kmComerío Municipio 11 kmAibonito Municipio 12 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 12 kmCaguas Municipio 13 kmBarranquitas Municipio 18 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 18 kmNaranjito 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
9:43 pm AST on 27 December 2018 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Parcelas Nuevas, PR · earthquakes near Parcelas Nuevas
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
35 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cidra Municipio, 3 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2876 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 Parcelas Nuevas, 2 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: Cidra, Cayey, Parcelas La Milagrosa, G. L. Garcia, Santa Clara, Sumidero.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 13 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 44 km NNW 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 18.1475, -66.1501. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cidra Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) S earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1 km NNW of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 9 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 9 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 5 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 4 km N of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 1 km ENE of El Ojo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 22 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 0 km SSE of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km SE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 4 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.3 6 km NE of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 1 km ESE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 2 km WNW of Las Ollas, 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.