QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Playita Cortada, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Playita Cortada in the 24 hours to 12:56 pm AST (16:56 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 11 km (7 mi) ENE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Playita Cortada

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north of Playita Cortada, PR, at 1:00 pm AST on 29 March 2019 (17:00 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km N of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico

19 km (12 mi) E of Ponce, PR

1:00 pm AST, Mar 29, 2019 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Playita Cortada Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 5 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 8 kmCoamo Municipio 14 kmVillalba Municipio 15 kmPonce Municipio 18 kmSalinas Municipio 19 kmAibonito Municipio 23 kmOrocovis Municipio 24 kmBarranquitas Municipio 26 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
1:00 pm AST on 29 March 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) north of Playita Cortada, PR · earthquakes near Playita Cortada
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 5 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2784 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Playita Cortada, 2 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.

Likely felt in: Río Cañas Abajo 5 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2019-03-12 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 43 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 18.0035, -66.4406. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) W earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Salinas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2 km N of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 3 km N of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 5 km NW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 1 km WSW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 2 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.5 4 km SSE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.5 5 km NW of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 0 km SSE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 2 km S of Barahona, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 18 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 4 km W of Cayuco, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 18 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 11 km E of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 3 km SSE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 3 km WNW of Santo Domingo, 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.