QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

117 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 117 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico, at 11:20 am AST on 20 August 2019 (15:20 UTC), 84 km deep.

· 84 km deep · released about 630 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 115 kmLuquillo Municipio 120 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
84 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 115 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2560 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 4.9 on 2018-11-14 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 13 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 35 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 109 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 46 km S 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 19.4141, -65.4361. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 115 km (72 mi) S earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 120 km (74 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 120 km (75 mi) SSW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 122 km (76 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 126 km (78 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Juan 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. 3.3 82 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.3 121 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 104 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 79 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 99 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  7. 2.6 95 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 118 km NNE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 151 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.0 120 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 86 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 2.7 87 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 88 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.6 74 km NNE of Luquillo, 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.