QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 1:36 pm AST (17:36 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) north of Arecibo, PR, at 1:29 am AST on 4 May 2019 (05:29 UTC), 83 km deep.

USGS: 8 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) NNE of Arecibo, PR · 69 km (43 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

1:29 am AST, May 4, 2019 · · 83 km deep · released about 630 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Arecibo Municipio 13 kmHatillo Municipio 16 kmBarceloneta Municipio 18 kmCamuy Municipio 21 kmFlorida Municipio 25 kmManatí Municipio 25 kmQuebradillas Municipio 25 kmUtuado Municipio 31 kmIsabela 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
1:29 am AST on 4 May 2019 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) north of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
83 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Arecibo Municipio, 13 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2666 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Arecibo, 9 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: Carrizales, Corcovado, Animas, Bajadero, Hatillo, Sabana Hoyos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 190 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 · 15 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 42 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 38 km E 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 18.5496, -66.7025. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Arecibo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 9 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 5 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 17 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 3 km WSW of Ciales, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 0 km E of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 4 km SW of Juncal, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 6 km ESE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 6 km NW of Villalba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 27 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 4 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 9 km ENE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 36 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 4 km ENE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 2 km E of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 19 km N of Arecibo, 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.