QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Cabo Rojo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabo Rojo in the 24 hours to 2:47 am AST (06:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (6 mi) SSE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cabo Rojo

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Cabo Rojo, PR, at 7:38 pm AST on 8 March 2019 (23:38 UTC), 4.0 km deep.

USGS: 3 km WNW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) SSW of Mayagüez, PR · 122 km (76 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

7:38 pm AST, Mar 8, 2019 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cabo Rojo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 7 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 12 kmSan Germán Municipio 14 kmLajas Municipio 20 kmAñasco Municipio 21 kmSabana Grande Municipio 24 kmLas Marías Municipio 25 kmMaricao Municipio 26 kmRincón Municipio 28 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
7:38 pm AST on 8 March 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Cabo Rojo, PR · earthquakes near Cabo Rojo
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 7 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2805 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabo Rojo, 3 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.

Likely felt in: Puerto Real 3 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 6,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 38 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 22 km WNW 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 18.1031, -67.1723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Sabana Grande 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. 1.5 12 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 5 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 4 km NNW of Las Marias, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 5 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 3 km N of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 3 km NE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 2 km NNE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 7 km NW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 5 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 8 km E of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 10 km E of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 2 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 3 km NNW of La Parguera, 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.