QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Levittown, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Levittown in the 24 hours to 5:56 pm AST (21:56 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Levittown, PR, at 3:37 am AST on 1 September 2019 (07:37 UTC), 87 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ESE of Levittown, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR · 7 km (4 mi) N of Bayamón, PR

3:37 am AST, Sep 1, 2019 · · 87 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Levittown Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cataño Municipio 1 kmToa Baja Municipio 4 kmSan Juan Municipio 10 kmBayamón Municipio 10 kmDorado Municipio 11 kmGuaynabo Municipio 12 kmToa Alta Municipio 12 kmVega Alta Municipio 19 kmNaranjito Municipio 20 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
3:37 am AST on 1 September 2019 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Levittown, PR · earthquakes near Levittown
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
87 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cataño Municipio, 1 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2629 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. In Levittown, 2 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: Sabana Seca, Cataño, Bayamón, San Juan, Candelaria Arenas, Candelaria.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 230 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 · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 20 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 20 km WNW 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 18.4428, -66.1596. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cataño Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) E earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) WNW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 34 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 43 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 5 km W of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 5 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 11 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 0 km NNW of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 27 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.0 2 km SE of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 8 km N of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 16 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 4 km NNE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 4 km SSW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 2 km NE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 6 km SSW of Jagual, 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.