QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Río Cañas Abajo in the 24 hours to 3:26 pm AST (19:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 22 km (14 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Río Cañas Abajo, PR, at 1:16 am AST on 2 July 2019 (05:16 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SSW of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico

15 km (10 mi) E of Ponce, PR

1:16 am AST, Jul 2, 2019 · · 14 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 2 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 12 kmVillalba Municipio 13 kmPonce Municipio 14 kmCoamo Municipio 16 kmOrocovis Municipio 23 kmSalinas Municipio 23 kmJayuya Municipio 25 kmAibonito 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
1:16 am AST on 2 July 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Río Cañas Abajo, PR · earthquakes near Río Cañas Abajo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 2 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2689 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 Río Cañas Abajo, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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: Potala Pastillo, Juana Díaz, Playita Cortada, Capitanejo, Aguilita, Las Ollas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 4.6 on 2019-03-12 — about 38,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 46 km NE 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 18.0136, -66.4790. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) SW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 2 km SSW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 8 km S of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 2 km NW of Galateo, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.7 1 km NE of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 5 km WNW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.7 3 km N of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 30 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 7 km WSW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 1 km NNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 3 km S of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 2 km NE of Playita Cortada, 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.