QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 9:49 pm AST (01:49 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 7:53 am AST on 18 February 2019 (11:53 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 27 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

47 km (29 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 143 km (89 mi) W of San Juan, PR

7:53 am AST, Feb 18, 2019 · · 17 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 28 kmAguadilla Municipio 29 kmAguada Municipio 30 kmMoca Municipio 39 kmAñasco Municipio 41 kmIsabela Municipio 42 kmQuebradillas Municipio 52 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 52 kmHormigueros Municipio 55 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
7:53 am AST on 18 February 2019 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 28 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2823 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 Rincón, 28 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: Aguada, Stella, Aguadilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 9 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 24 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 19 km E 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 18.5390, -67.4126. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 39 km (25 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 53 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 4 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 12 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 52 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 29 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 13 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 56 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 3 km W of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 11 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 27 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 7 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 21 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 53 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 5 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 22 km W of Rincón, 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.