QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near La Playa, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Playa in the 24 hours to 3:00 am AST (07:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 28 km (17 mi) WSW, at 12:57 am AST on 19 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Playa

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) southwest of La Playa, PR, at 10:23 pm AST on 31 July 2019 (02:23 UTC), 32 km deep.

USGS: 7 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 125 km (78 mi) W of San Juan, PR

10:23 pm AST, Jul 31, 2019 · · 32 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Playa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 12 kmAñasco Municipio 13 kmAguada Municipio 16 kmHormigueros Municipio 17 kmMoca Municipio 23 kmSan Germán Municipio 25 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 27 kmLas Marías Municipio 27 kmAguadilla Municipio 29 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
10:23 pm AST on 31 July 2019 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) southwest of La Playa, PR · earthquakes near La Playa
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
32 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 12 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2660 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 La Playa, 8 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: Stella, Mayagüez, Las Marias, Añasco, Rincón, Espino.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.3 on 2017-10-14 — about 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 45 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 25 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 18.2356, -67.2368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) SE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 44 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 2 km NNW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 3 km NW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 5 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 Mona Passage
  6. 2.2 8 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 8 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 6 km W of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 3 km S of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 12 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 3 km SW of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 10 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.8 1 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 10 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 2 km SW of Maricao, 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.