QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Central Aguirre, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Central Aguirre in the 24 hours to 3:12 am AST (07:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Central Aguirre

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Central Aguirre, PR, at 3:00 am AST on 13 March 2019 (07:00 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 11 km SSE of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico

63 km (39 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 45 km (28 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

3:00 am AST, Mar 13, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Central Aguirre Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayama Municipio 15 kmSalinas Municipio 15 kmArroyo Municipio 21 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 23 kmPatillas Municipio 27 kmCayey Municipio 28 kmAibonito Municipio 31 kmCoamo Municipio 32 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 35 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
3:00 am AST on 13 March 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Central Aguirre, PR · earthquakes near Central Aguirre
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayama Municipio, 15 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2801 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. In Central Aguirre, 11 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Jobos, Coquí, Guayama, Salinas, Coco, Olimpo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 35,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km N 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 17.8563, -66.1971. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayama Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) NE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) N earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 4 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 33 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 7 km SSE of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 18 km SSW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 2 km S of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 2 km N of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 0 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 2 km SSW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 3 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  11. 1.9 0 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 4 km SSE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 3 km SE of Cayey, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 5 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 2 km NE 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.