QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 75 km (47 mi) N of San Juan, PR, at 5:49 pm AST on 17 July 2019 (21:49 UTC), 11 km deep.

75 km (47 mi) N of San Juan, PR

· 11 km deep · released about 72 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 70 kmToa Baja Municipio 70 kmCataño Municipio 71 kmLoíza Municipio 72 kmSan Juan Municipio 73 kmVega Alta Municipio 76 kmCarolina Municipio 77 kmVega Baja Municipio 77 kmToa Alta Municipio 81 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 2.3 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 70 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2674 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. 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 72 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 6,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 42 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 66 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 30 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 42 km ENE 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 19.0798, -66.0806. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 70 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 73 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 76 km (48 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 79 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 76 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 76 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 68 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 79 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 78 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 64 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 67 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  10. 2.4 70 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 85 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 76 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 59 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 81 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 43 km N of Suárez, 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.