QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

54 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 54 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 61 km (38 mi) N of San Juan, PR, at 3:09 am AST on 26 March 2019 (07:09 UTC), 61 km deep.

61 km (38 mi) N of San Juan, PR

· 61 km deep · released about 49 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loíza Municipio 57 kmToa Baja Municipio 57 kmCataño Municipio 57 kmDorado Municipio 58 kmSan Juan Municipio 59 kmCarolina Municipio 62 kmVega Alta Municipio 65 kmVega Baja Municipio 67 kmGuaynabo Municipio 68 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
61 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loíza Municipio, 57 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2787 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 49 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 9,800 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 48 km NE 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 18.9503, -66.0370. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loíza Municipio, PR 57 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) S earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 47 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 49 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 63 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 57 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 39 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 93 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 44 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 27 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 12 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 63 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 81 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 47 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 25 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 59 km N of Brenas, 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.