QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

120 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 120 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico, at 12:10 am AST on 12 May 2019 (04:10 UTC), 41 km deep.

· 41 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

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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 2.5 (md)
Depth
41 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Isabela Municipio, 129 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2740 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. 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 190 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 2016-10-23 — about 640 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 43 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 106 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 113 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 24 km ESE 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 19.5535, -66.5403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Isabela Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SSW earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 135 km (84 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 79 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 83 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 79 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 76 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 85 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 72 km NNE of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 76 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 72 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 73 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 73 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 74 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 101 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 102 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.