QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Bufalo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bufalo in the 24 hours to 10:46 am AST (14:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 15 km (9 mi) NNW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bufalo

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) southeast of Bufalo, PR, at 10:00 am AST on 20 March 2019 (14:00 UTC), 106 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SE of Bufalo, Puerto Rico

52 km (32 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 20 km (12 mi) ESE of Arecibo, PR

10:00 am AST, Mar 20, 2019 · · 106 km deep · released about 530 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bufalo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Florida Municipio 4 kmBarceloneta Municipio 7 kmManatí Municipio 8 kmArecibo Municipio 13 kmCiales Municipio 13 kmMorovis Municipio 17 kmVega Baja Municipio 18 kmUtuado Municipio 21 kmJayuya Municipio 22 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
10:00 am AST on 20 March 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) southeast of Bufalo, PR · earthquakes near Bufalo
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
106 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Florida Municipio, 4 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2715 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bufalo, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Imbery, Estancias de Florida, Florida, La Alianza, Barceloneta, Garrochales.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 530 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 230 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 18 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 25 km ENE 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 18.4041, -66.5578. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Florida Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Ciales Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ciales Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Morovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km NNW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 11 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 12 km NNW of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 1 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  6. 2.0 2 km WSW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 3 km NW of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 2 km NNE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 2 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 3 km ENE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 22 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 7 km SE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 6 km ESE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 2 km S of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 2 km N of Playita Cortada, 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.