QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 7:58 pm AST (23:58 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 99 km (62 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Juan

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) northeast of San Juan, PR, at 4:24 pm AST on 19 January 2019 (20:24 UTC), 64 km deep.

USGS: 20 km NE of San Juan, Puerto Rico

24 km (15 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR · 22 km (14 mi) N of Carolina, PR

4:24 pm AST, Jan 19, 2019 · · 64 km deep · released about 32 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 19 kmSan Juan Municipio 23 kmCarolina Municipio 24 kmCataño Municipio 25 kmToa Baja Municipio 28 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 31 kmRío Grande Municipio 32 kmGuaynabo Municipio 33 kmCanóvanas Municipio 33 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
4:24 pm AST on 19 January 2019 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) northeast of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
64 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 19 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2853 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 San Juan, 21 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Loíza, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cataño, Suárez, Santa Barbara, Carolina.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 2018-12-09 — about 3,700 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 · 42 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km WSW 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 18.6091, -65.9823. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3 km ENE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 4 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 42 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 39 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 12 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 14 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 14 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 16 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 54 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 4 km ENE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 31 km NNE of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 49 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 22 km NNE of Playa Fortuna, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 45 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 2 km WSW of Vega Baja, 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.