QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Bayamón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Bayamón in the 24 hours to 4:21 pm AST (20:21 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 98 km (61 mi) WSW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bayamón

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Bayamón, PR, at 12:05 am AST on 21 March 2019 (04:05 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ENE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico

6 km (4 mi) SW of Caguas, PR

12:05 am AST, Mar 21, 2019 · · 15 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bayamón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Caguas Municipio 4 kmCidra Municipio 9 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 10 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 11 kmCayey Municipio 12 kmGurabo Municipio 14 kmComerío Municipio 16 kmGuaynabo Municipio 18 kmJuncos Municipio 18 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
12:05 am AST on 21 March 2019 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Bayamón, PR · earthquakes near Bayamón
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Caguas 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. In Bayamón, 25 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: Caguas, Sumidero, Santa Clara, G. L. Garcia, Aguas Buenas, Bairoa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 24,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 10 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 45 km NW 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 18.1866, -66.0750. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Caguas Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Gurabo 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. 2.1 1 km WSW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 2 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 5 km NW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 0 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 2 km S of Barahona, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 5 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 1 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 13 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 1 km ESE of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 15 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 6 km ESE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.5 4 km SSW of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 2 km SE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 Puerto Rico region

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.