QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Jobos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jobos in the 24 hours to 10:14 am AST (14:14 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (18 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jobos

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in Jobos, PR, at 1:33 am AST on 20 March 2019 (05:33 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 0 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico

52 km (32 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 34 km (21 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

1:33 am AST, Mar 20, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jobos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayama Municipio 4 kmSalinas Municipio 11 kmArroyo Municipio 13 kmCayey Municipio 17 kmPatillas Municipio 20 kmAibonito Municipio 23 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 24 kmCidra Municipio 25 kmCoamo Municipio 27 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
1:33 am AST on 20 March 2019 ()
Where
in Jobos, PR · earthquakes near Jobos
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayama Municipio, 4 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2793 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Central Aguirre, Guayama, Coquí, Olimpo, Corazón, Arroyo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 13,000 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 · 35 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 17.9471, -66.1630. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayama Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 19 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 8 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 5 km SSE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  4. 4.1 5 km SSE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 1 km NNE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 5 km S of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 6 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 8 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 9 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 1 km WSW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 2 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 5 km NW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 0 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 1 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 5 km SSE of Arroyo, 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.