QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Rafael Hernandez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rafael Hernandez in the 24 hours to 12:52 pm AST (16:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 9 km (6 mi) NNW, at 6:20 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rafael Hernandez

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Rafael Hernandez, PR, at 4:21 pm AST on 20 June 2019 (20:21 UTC), 81 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Rafael Hernandez, Puerto Rico

32 km (20 mi) NNE of Mayagüez, PR · 105 km (65 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:21 pm AST, Jun 20, 2019 · · 81 km deep · released about 41 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rafael Hernandez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Isabela Municipio 5 kmAguadilla Municipio 9 kmMoca Municipio 12 kmQuebradillas Municipio 14 kmAguada Municipio 18 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 19 kmCamuy Municipio 21 kmAñasco Municipio 23 kmRincón Municipio 26 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
4:21 pm AST on 20 June 2019 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Rafael Hernandez, PR · earthquakes near Rafael Hernandez
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
81 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Isabela Municipio, 5 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2701 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Rafael Hernandez, 2 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: Mora, Isabela, Aceitunas, Caban, Moca, Aguadilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 17 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 20 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 18.4811, -67.0586. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Isabela Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) S earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 0 km WNW of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 12 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 38 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 44 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 2 km SSE of Cayuco, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 14 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 5 km ENE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 1 km ESE of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 6 km NNE of Sabana Eneas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 3 km ENE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 26 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 8 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 25 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 5 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 2 km E of Mayagüez, 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.