QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 7:50 pm AST (23:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south of Salinas, PR, at 5:23 pm AST on 6 July 2019 (21:23 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 14 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico

68 km (42 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 38 km (23 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

5:23 pm AST, Jul 6, 2019 · · 11 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 15 kmSalinas Municipio 15 kmGuayama Municipio 23 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 26 kmCoamo Municipio 29 kmArroyo Municipio 32 kmAibonito Municipio 32 kmCayey Municipio 33 kmPonce Municipio 36 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
5:23 pm AST on 6 July 2019 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) south of Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 15 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2685 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 15 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: Jauca, Central Aguirre, Las Ochenta, Coquí, Santa Isabel, Parcelas Peñuelas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 2016-12-05 — about 30,000 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 · 50 km NNE 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 17.8426, -66.3088. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) ENE earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 7 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 32 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 12 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  9. 1.6 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 7 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 6 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 6 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.5 7 km SSW of Arroyo, 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.