QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Vieques, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vieques in the 24 hours to 5:30 pm AST (21:30 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 74 km (46 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vieques

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northeast of Vieques, PR, at 7:16 pm AST on 29 March 2019 (23:16 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

34 km (21 mi) ENE of San Juan, PR · 26 km (16 mi) ENE of Carolina, PR

7:16 pm AST, Mar 29, 2019 · · 11 km deep · released about 47 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Vieques Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Río Grande Municipio 16 kmLuquillo Municipio 18 kmLoíza Municipio 21 kmFajardo Municipio 24 kmCanóvanas Municipio 25 kmCarolina Municipio 26 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 33 kmCeiba Municipio 33 kmSan Juan Municipio 34 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
7:16 pm AST on 29 March 2019 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northeast of Vieques, PR · earthquakes near Vieques
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Río Grande Municipio, 16 km SSW
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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Vieques, 13 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: Suárez, Playa Fortuna, Loíza, Hato Candal, Palmer, Luquillo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 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 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 · 49 km SW 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 18.5200, -65.7621. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Río Grande Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) WSW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 39 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 10 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 37 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 43 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 3 km E of Ceiba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 9 km NNW of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 36 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 20 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 2 km ENE of Celada, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 44 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 11 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 37 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 5 km E of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 6 km NW of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 42 km NNW of Culebra, 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.