QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 4:35 pm AST (20:35 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) north-northeast of San Juan, PR, at 10:04 pm AST on 27 January 2019 (02:04 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 31 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico

37 km (23 mi) NNE of San Juan, PR · 35 km (22 mi) N of Carolina, PR

10:04 pm AST, Jan 27, 2019 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 31 kmSan Juan Municipio 35 kmCataño Municipio 36 kmCarolina Municipio 36 kmToa Baja Municipio 38 kmDorado Municipio 41 kmRío Grande Municipio 43 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 43 kmCanóvanas Municipio 45 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
10:04 pm AST on 27 January 2019 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) north-northeast of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 31 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2845 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In San Juan, 32 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 160 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 95,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 68,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 3,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 46 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 18.7235, -65.9730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) S earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 38 km (23 mi) SW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 41 km (26 mi) SW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 29 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 64 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 74 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 4 km ENE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 1 km NE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 42 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 3 km ENE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 4 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 42 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 39 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 12 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 14 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 14 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 16 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 54 km N of San Juan, 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.