QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 4:10 pm AST (20:10 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 2.7 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 11:14 pm AST on 21 January 2019 (03:14 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 29 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

48 km (30 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 142 km (88 mi) W of Bayamón, PR

11:14 pm AST, Jan 21, 2019 · · 17 km deep · released about 380 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 30 kmAguada Municipio 35 kmAguadilla Municipio 38 kmAñasco Municipio 44 kmMoca Municipio 46 kmIsabela Municipio 52 kmHormigueros Municipio 55 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 58 kmMayagüez Municipio 58 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
11:14 pm AST on 21 January 2019 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 30 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2850 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 30 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 380 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 40,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 29,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 380 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 320 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 31 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 38 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 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 18.4633, -67.5026. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 49 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 4 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 2 km SW of Espino, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 44 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 14 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 37 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 43 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 48 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 30 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 7 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 56 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.2 13 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 33 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 1 km N of Mayagüez, 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.