QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Trujillo Alto, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Trujillo Alto in the 24 hours to 4:33 pm AST (20:33 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 83 km (52 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Trujillo Alto

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northeast of Trujillo Alto, PR, at 9:31 pm AST on 12 May 2019 (01:31 UTC), 128 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NE of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico

9 km (5 mi) ESE of San Juan, PR · in Carolina, PR

9:31 pm AST, May 12, 2019 · · 128 km deep · released about 570 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Trujillo Alto Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carolina Municipio 4 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 4 kmLoíza Municipio 10 kmSan Juan Municipio 10 kmGurabo Municipio 11 kmCanóvanas Municipio 12 kmGuaynabo Municipio 13 kmJuncos Municipio 18 kmCataño Municipio 19 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
9:31 pm AST on 12 May 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northeast of Trujillo Alto, PR · earthquakes near Trujillo Alto
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
128 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carolina Municipio, 4 km NE
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. In Trujillo Alto, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Carolina, Santa Barbara, Eleanor Roosevelt, Canovanas, Campo Rico, San Isidro.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 570 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 27,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 570 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 4.1 on 2019-05-02 — about 75 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 20 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km WNW 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 18.3711, -65.9905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carolina Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) SSW earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNE earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Canóvanas Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) ESE earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 37 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 1 km WSW of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 1 km ENE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.5 5 km SSW of Emajagua, 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 19 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 1 km NNE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 2 km ENE of Celada, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 11 km NNW of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 5 km SE of La Plena, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 5 km E of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 6 km NW of Trujillo Alto, 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.