QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Aguas Buenas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguas Buenas in the 24 hours to 9:35 am AST (13:35 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 87 km (54 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Aguas Buenas, PR, at 4:05 pm AST on 24 July 2019 (20:05 UTC), 54 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WNW of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico

16 km (10 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 11 km (7 mi) S of Bayamón, PR

4:05 pm AST, Jul 24, 2019 · · 54 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguas Buenas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguas Buenas Municipio 4 kmBayamón Municipio 8 kmGuaynabo Municipio 8 kmComerío Municipio 10 kmNaranjito Municipio 11 kmCidra Municipio 12 kmCaguas Municipio 13 kmToa Alta Municipio 13 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 16 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
4:05 pm AST on 24 July 2019 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Aguas Buenas, PR · earthquakes near Aguas Buenas
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
54 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguas Buenas Municipio, 4 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2667 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 Aguas Buenas, 6 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: Sumidero, Santa Clara, Guaynabo, Naranjito, Comerío, Pájaros.

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 2016-12-05 — 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 · 3 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 31 km NW 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 18.2840, -66.1496. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Cidra Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 2 km ESE of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 1 km S of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 1 km S of Cataño, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 6 km S of Caguas, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 2 km WNW of Humacao, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 7 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 1 km WNW of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 4 km NNE of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 2 km ESE of Mucarabones, 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. 2.5 7 km SSW of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.5 8 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 9 km ENE of Jayuya, 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.