QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 12:51 pm AST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Aguadilla, PR, at 8:45 pm AST on 17 March 2019 (00:45 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

28 km (17 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 117 km (73 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:45 pm AST, Mar 17, 2019 · · 12 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguadilla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 5 kmAguada Municipio 8 kmMoca Municipio 13 kmRincón Municipio 15 kmIsabela Municipio 17 kmAñasco Municipio 19 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 25 kmQuebradillas Municipio 26 kmLas Marías Municipio 32 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
8:45 pm AST on 17 March 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northwest of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 5 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2795 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguadilla, 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: Aguadilla 3 km, intensity II · Aguada 8 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 10 km, intensity II · Rincón 14 km, intensity II · Isabela 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 130 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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 660 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 29 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 4 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 13 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 21 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 18.4488, -67.1748. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 39 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 3 km NNE of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 3 km ENE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 29 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 3 km S of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 6 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 19 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 2 km NW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 1 km NNW of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 2 km SSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 16 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 21 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.5 6 km WSW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 5 km SSW of Maricao, 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.