QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Puerto Real, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Puerto Real in the 24 hours to 6:05 pm AST (22:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Puerto Real

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR, at 4:30 am AST on 22 March 2019 (08:30 UTC), 118 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) SW of Mayagüez, PR · 128 km (79 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

4:30 am AST, Mar 22, 2019 · · 118 km deep · released about 250 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Puerto Real Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 12 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 13 kmSan Germán Municipio 20 kmAñasco Municipio 23 kmLajas Municipio 24 kmRincón Municipio 26 kmSabana Grande Municipio 30 kmLas Marías Municipio 30 kmAguada Municipio 31 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
4:30 am AST on 22 March 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR · earthquakes near Puerto Real
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
118 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 12 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2791 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 Puerto Real, 5 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: Cabo Rojo, Boquerón, Hormigueros, Monte Grande, Mayagüez, Pole Ojea.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 250 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 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 340 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 38 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 50 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 17 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 18.1025, -67.2285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 4 km SSE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 3 km NNE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 18 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 4 km NNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 9 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 18 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 20 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 3 km SSE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 1 km ENE of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 3 km SW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 15 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 0 km SW of Lajas, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 2 km NNE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 2 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 3 km NNE of La Playa, 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.