QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Puerto Real, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Puerto Real in the 24 hours to 10:49 am AST (14:49 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR, at 7:07 am AST on 24 March 2019 (11:07 UTC), 31 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 130 km (81 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

7:07 am AST, Mar 24, 2019 · · 31 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Puerto Real Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 16 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 20 kmRincón Municipio 20 kmAñasco Municipio 21 kmSan Germán Municipio 25 kmAguada Municipio 26 kmLajas Municipio 31 kmMoca Municipio 32 kmLas Marías Municipio 32 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
7:07 am AST on 24 March 2019 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) northwest of Puerto Real, PR · earthquakes near Puerto Real
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
31 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 16 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2789 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 Puerto Real, 12 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: Mayagüez, Hormigueros, Cabo Rojo, La Playa, Boquerón, Stella.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 15,000 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 · 32 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 34 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 11 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 11 km W 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 18.1556, -67.2690. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 1 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 26 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 12 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 15 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 19 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 20 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 3 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 11 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 4 km SSE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 3 km NNE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 18 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 4 km NNW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 9 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 20 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 3 km SSE of Mayagüez, 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.