QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Carrizales, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Carrizales in the 24 hours to 10:08 am AST (14:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 43 km (27 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Carrizales

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Carrizales, PR, at 8:00 pm AST on 21 March 2019 (00:00 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 10 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) N of Arecibo, PR · 75 km (46 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

8:00 pm AST, Mar 21, 2019 · · 19 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hatillo Municipio 15 kmArecibo Municipio 17 kmCamuy Municipio 18 kmQuebradillas Municipio 22 kmBarceloneta Municipio 23 kmIsabela Municipio 29 kmFlorida Municipio 30 kmManatí Municipio 30 kmUtuado Municipio 33 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
8:00 pm AST on 21 March 2019 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Carrizales, PR · earthquakes near Carrizales
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hatillo Municipio, 15 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2791 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 Carrizales, 10 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: Arecibo, Hatillo, Corcovado, Camuy, Rafael Gonzalez, Bajadero.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 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 1,600,000× 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 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 46 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 20 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 28 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW 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 18.5676, -66.7500. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hatillo Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) WSW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) WSW earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 39 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 1 km NNW of Animas, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 2 km N of Animas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 57 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 37 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 9 km N of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 19 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 18 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 25 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 11 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 12 km NNW of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.1 3 km NW of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 19 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 56 km N of Hatillo, 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.