QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 10:50 pm AST (02:50 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 8:57 pm AST on 1 January 2019 (00:57 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 22 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

42 km (26 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 141 km (88 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:57 pm AST, Jan 1, 2019 · · 12 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 23 kmAguada Municipio 26 kmAguadilla Municipio 27 kmMoca Municipio 36 kmAñasco Municipio 36 kmIsabela Municipio 41 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 49 kmHormigueros Municipio 50 kmQuebradillas Municipio 50 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
8:57 pm AST on 1 January 2019 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 23 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2871 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 23 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: Stella, Aguada, Aguadilla, Caban, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 1,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 14 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 48 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 19 km ENE 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 18.4903, -67.3993. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 19 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 36 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 53 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 12 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 41 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 35 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 6 km N of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 3 km ESE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 29 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 15 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 11 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 10 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 Mona Passage
  15. 3.0 46 km NNW of San Antonio, 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.