QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 1:36 pm AST (17:36 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 99 km (62 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 San Juan

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) south-southwest of San Juan, PR, at 9:49 pm AST on 5 April 2019 (01:49 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 2 km WSW of Palomas, Puerto Rico

30 km (19 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 21 km (13 mi) SW of Bayamón, PR

9:49 pm AST, Apr 5, 2019 · · 12 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barranquitas Municipio 4 kmComerío Municipio 6 kmNaranjito Municipio 8 kmAibonito Municipio 10 kmCorozal Municipio 11 kmCidra Municipio 13 kmCoamo Municipio 16 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 16 kmToa Alta Municipio 16 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
9:49 pm AST on 5 April 2019 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) south-southwest of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barranquitas Municipio, 4 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2776 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 San Juan, 33 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: Barranquitas, Comerío, Aibonito, Naranjito, Parcelas La Milagrosa, Pastos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 7,900 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 32 km NNW 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 18.2203, -66.2761. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barranquitas Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) WSW earthquakes near Barranquitas Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Corozal Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Corozal Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cidra 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. 2.3 0 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 5 km SE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 8 km NE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 2 km ESE of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 6 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 10 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 8 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 1 km NNE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 5 km S of Palo Seco, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 6 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 8 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 9 km SE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 1 km WSW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 2 km ENE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 0 km NNW of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.