QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

115 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 115 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 10:41 am AST on 23 May 2019 (14:41 UTC), 39 km deep.

· 39 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 116 kmToa Baja Municipio 117 kmCataño Municipio 118 kmLoíza Municipio 120 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
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
39 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 116 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2647 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 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 350 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.4 106 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 28 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 113 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 21 km W 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 19.5081, -66.1240. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) S earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 117 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 118 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 120 km (74 mi) S earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) S earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 68 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 66 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 113 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 101 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 102 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 100 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 127 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 122 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 97 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 95 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 103 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 103 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.1 82 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 121 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.