QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Levittown, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Levittown in the 24 hours to 10:42 am AST (14:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 99 km (61 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Levittown

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Levittown, PR, at 4:31 am AST on 20 August 2019 (08:31 UTC), 105 km deep.

USGS: 4 km NNE of Levittown, Puerto Rico

15 km (9 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 13 km (8 mi) N of Bayamón, PR

4:31 am AST, Aug 20, 2019 · · 105 km deep · released about 32 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Levittown Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Toa Baja Municipio 5 kmCataño Municipio 6 kmDorado Municipio 10 kmSan Juan Municipio 13 kmBayamón Municipio 16 kmToa Alta Municipio 16 kmGuaynabo Municipio 17 kmVega Alta Municipio 19 kmCarolina Municipio 24 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
4:31 am AST on 20 August 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Levittown, PR · earthquakes near Levittown
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
105 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Toa Baja Municipio, 5 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2640 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 Levittown, 5 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: San Juan, Sabana Seca, Cataño, Ingenio, Candelaria Arenas, Bayamón.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 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 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.4 on 2018-12-09 — about 3,700 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 43 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 26 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 18 km W 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 18.4928, -66.1686. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 11 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 27 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.2 8 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 16 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 4 km NNE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 4 km SSW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 2 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 6 km SSW of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 2 km SSW of Sabana Hoyos, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 10 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.2 12 km NNW of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 1 km E of Corozal, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 4 km ESE of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 12 km N of Brenas, 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.