Earthquake near Bairoa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bairoa in the 24 hours to 4:18 pm AST (20:18 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 82 km (51 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bairoa

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Bairoa, PR, at 11:56 am AST on 22 January 2019 (15:56 UTC), 71 km deep.

USGS: 3 km ENE of Bairoa, Puerto Rico

5 km (3 mi) NE of Caguas, PR

11:56 am AST, Jan 22, 2019 · 2019-01-22 15:56 UTC · 71 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

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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: 11:56 am AST on 22 January 2019 (2019-01-22 15:56 UTC)
Where: 4 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Bairoa, PR · earthquakes near Bairoa
Magnitude: M 1.9 (md)
Depth: 71 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Gurabo Municipio, 3 km E
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2850 days ago · we first saw it 2850 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 Bairoa, 4 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: Gurabo, Celada, Caguas, Trujillo Alto, San Lorenzo, Juncos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.

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

5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 14 km W of this epicentre Dec 24, 2010
5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 44 km NW of this epicentre Jun 17, 1975

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Gurabo Municipio, PR	3 km (2 mi)	E	earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR	7 km (5 mi)	N	earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR	8 km (5 mi)	SW	earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR	11 km (7 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR	13 km (8 mi)	W	earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR	14 km (9 mi)	SSE	earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.1 0 km NNW of Jobos, Puerto Rico 17:58 UTC
2.2 0 km NNE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 17:55 UTC
1.7 0 km NE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 17:18 UTC
2.6 2 km NNE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 16:29 UTC
2.2 1 km SSW of Jobos, Puerto Rico 16:03 UTC
2.0 Puerto Rico region 15:59 UTC
2.3 1 km SW of Jobos, Puerto Rico 14:57 UTC
1.8 0 km NE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 14:41 UTC
2.6 0 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 14:25 UTC
2.1 2 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico 14:15 UTC
1.6 1 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico 13:55 UTC
2.1 5 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico 13:32 UTC
1.8 1 km SSW of Jobos, Puerto Rico 13:31 UTC
2.9 1 km E of Jobos, Puerto Rico 13:27 UTC
4.6 3 km SSW of Jobos, Puerto Rico 13:08 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:18 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.