QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Garrochales, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Garrochales in the 24 hours to 12:11 pm AST (16:11 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 12 km (7 mi) NW, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Garrochales

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in Garrochales, PR, at 8:18 pm AST on 14 May 2019 (00:18 UTC), 111 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km SW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico

54 km (34 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 17 km (11 mi) E of Arecibo, PR

8:18 pm AST, May 14, 2019 · · 111 km deep · released about 270 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Garrochales Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 4 kmFlorida Municipio 8 kmManatí Municipio 9 kmArecibo Municipio 11 kmCiales Municipio 17 kmVega Baja Municipio 19 kmMorovis Municipio 21 kmUtuado Municipio 23 kmHatillo Municipio 24 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
8:18 pm AST on 14 May 2019 ()
Where
in Garrochales, PR · earthquakes near Garrochales
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
111 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 4 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2737 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Imbery, Bufalo, Barceloneta, Sabana Hoyos, La Alianza, Animas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 270 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 57,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 40,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 270 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 450 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 13 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 26 km ENE 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 18.4425, -66.5751. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) NNE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) S earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) E earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Ciales Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ciales Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Vega Baja 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 46 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 5 km N of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 10 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 25 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 19 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 8 km NNE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 13 km NNW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 5 km SW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 3 km N of Juncal, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 6 km SE of Aceitunas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 13 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 9 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 5 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 17 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 3 km WSW of Ciales, 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.