QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Caban, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Caban in the 24 hours to 5:29 pm AST (21:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 5 km (3 mi) SSE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Caban

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northeast of Caban, PR, at 7:26 pm AST on 9 August 2019 (23:26 UTC), 81 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NNE of Caban, Puerto Rico

29 km (18 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 113 km (70 mi) W of San Juan, PR

7:26 pm AST, Aug 9, 2019 · · 81 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Caban Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 2 kmMoca Municipio 11 kmAguada Municipio 11 kmIsabela Municipio 13 kmRincón Municipio 19 kmAñasco Municipio 20 kmQuebradillas Municipio 22 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 23 kmCamuy Municipio 28 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
7:26 pm AST on 9 August 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) north-northeast of Caban, PR · earthquakes near Caban
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
81 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 2 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2651 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 Caban, 2 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: Aguadilla, Rafael Hernandez, Aceitunas, Moca, Mora, Aguada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 160 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 92,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 65,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 520 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 32 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 9 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 14 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 18.4633, -67.1318. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 4 km E of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 34 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 40 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 16 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 5 km SW of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 9 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 1 km SW of Espino, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 3 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 5 km NE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 5 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 2 km NNW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 47 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.5 Mona Passage
  14. 2.2 8 km SW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 8 km ESE 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.