QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 12:06 pm AST (16:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR, at 1:13 pm AST on 21 August 2019 (17:13 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 8 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

8 km (5 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 124 km (77 mi) W of San Juan, PR

1:13 pm AST, Aug 21, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 13 kmHormigueros Municipio 14 kmRincón Municipio 15 kmAguada Municipio 19 kmSan Germán Municipio 22 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 24 kmMoca Municipio 24 kmLas Marías Municipio 26 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 30 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
1:13 pm AST on 21 August 2019 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) west of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 13 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2639 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 Mayagüez, 9 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: La Playa, Añasco, Hormigueros, Las Marias, Stella, Espino.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 9,800 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 · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 26 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 38 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 27 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 18.2053, -67.2203. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 10 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 38 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 4 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 15 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 4 km N of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 23 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 32 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 2 km NNW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 18 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 6 km NE of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 9 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  13. 4.3 21 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 28 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 4 km SSE of Cabo Rojo, 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.