QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

59 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 59 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico, at 12:34 am AST on 3 January 2019 (04:34 UTC), 50 km deep.

· 50 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Quebradillas Municipio 63 kmIsabela Municipio 64 kmCamuy Municipio 64 kmHatillo Municipio 65 kmBarceloneta Municipio 67 kmArecibo Municipio 67 kmAguadilla Municipio 70 kmManatí Municipio 73 kmVega Baja Municipio 77 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
50 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Quebradillas Municipio, 63 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2870 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. 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 4.7 on 2017-07-17 — about 440 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 2 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 67 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 24 km NE 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 19.0233, -66.8126. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) S earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 65 km (40 mi) S earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 67 km (42 mi) SSE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 67 km (42 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arecibo 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. 2.7 75 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 57 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 89 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 81 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 85 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 71 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 88 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 90 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 74 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 42 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 64 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 79 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 10 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 37 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 69 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.