QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 12:50 pm AST (16:50 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Ponce, PR, at 7:55 pm AST on 8 September 2019 (23:55 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ESE of Ponce, Puerto Rico

in Ponce, PR

7:55 pm AST, Sep 8, 2019 · · 24 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 3 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 9 kmPeñuelas Municipio 16 kmVillalba Municipio 19 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 21 kmGuayanilla Municipio 23 kmJayuya Municipio 24 kmCoamo Municipio 26 kmAdjuntas 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
7:55 pm AST on 8 September 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ponce Municipio, 3 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2621 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 Ponce, 5 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: Capitanejo, Aguilita, Coto Laurel, Potala Pastillo, Luis Llorens Torres, Juana Díaz.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.6 on 2019-03-12 — about 21,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9953, -66.5796. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ponce Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 14 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 2 km NNE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 12 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 10 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 8 km SE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 1 km E of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 1 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 13 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.5 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 3 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.