QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Aguas Buenas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Buenas in the 24 hours to 8:47 pm AST (00:47 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 87 km (54 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 Aguas Buenas

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Aguas Buenas, PR, at 5:35 am AST on 27 February 2019 (09:35 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico

16 km (10 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 9 km (5 mi) WNW of Caguas, PR

5:35 am AST, Feb 27, 2019 · · 13 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 2 kmGuaynabo Municipio 9 kmCaguas Municipio 9 kmBayamón Municipio 11 kmCidra Municipio 12 kmComerío Municipio 12 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 14 kmGurabo Municipio 14 kmNaranjito Municipio 15 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
5:35 am AST on 27 February 2019 ()
Where
in Aguas Buenas, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Buenas
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 2 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2815 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Sumidero, Santa Clara, Bairoa, Caguas, Guaynabo, Cidra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 15,000 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 · 2 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 35 km NW 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 18.2675, -66.1131. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) SW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 0 km NNW of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 2 km E of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 3 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 8 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 2 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 10 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 1 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 1 km SSW of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 1 km NE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 0 km E of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 0 km ESE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 1 km E of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 3 km E of La Plena, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 3 km E of La Plena, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 0 km SW of Jobos, 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.