QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Río Cañas Abajo in the 24 hours to 11:32 am AST (15:32 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Río Cañas Abajo, PR, at 12:51 pm AST on 12 July 2019 (16:51 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NNE of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico

21 km (13 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

12:51 pm AST, Jul 12, 2019 · · 0.5 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Río Cañas Abajo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Villalba Municipio 6 kmCoamo Municipio 10 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 10 kmOrocovis Municipio 15 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 16 kmPonce Municipio 19 kmBarranquitas Municipio 20 kmAibonito Municipio 20 kmJayuya Municipio 20 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
12:51 pm AST on 12 July 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Río Cañas Abajo, PR · earthquakes near Río Cañas Abajo
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Villalba Municipio, 6 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2679 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Río Cañas Abajo, 5 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.

Likely felt in: Río Cañas Abajo 5 km, intensity II · Coamo 10 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 38× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 9,400 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 48 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 18.0833, -66.4481. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Villalba Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 10 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.5 7 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.5 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 8 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 15 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 9 km ENE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 9 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 3 km NW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 11 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 9 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.7 1 km WNW of Santa Isabel, 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.