QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Jauca, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jauca in the 24 hours to 1:35 pm AST (17:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (4 mi) NNE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jauca

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Jauca, PR, at 9:51 pm AST on 15 March 2019 (01:51 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico

59 km (37 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

9:51 pm AST, Mar 15, 2019 · · 11 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jauca Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 5 kmSalinas Municipio 9 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 17 kmCoamo Municipio 18 kmGuayama Municipio 22 kmAibonito Municipio 23 kmVillalba Municipio 25 kmCayey Municipio 27 kmPonce Municipio 29 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
9:51 pm AST on 15 March 2019 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) southeast of Jauca, PR · earthquakes near Jauca
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 5 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2798 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Jauca, 4 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: Las Ochenta, Salinas, Parcelas Peñuelas, Santa Isabel, El Ojo, Mariano Colón.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 22,000 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 · 42 km NNE 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 17.9418, -66.3425. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6 km ESE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 4 km SSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 2 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 Puerto Rico region
  5. 1.6 15 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 15 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 9 km N of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 1 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 0 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 1 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 1 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 2 km WSW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 4 km N of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 33 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.7 7 km SSE of Palo Seco, 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.