QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Moca, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Moca in the 24 hours to 4:23 pm AST (20:23 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, in Moca, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Moca

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in Moca, PR, at 10:09 pm AST on 16 September 2019 (02:09 UTC), 102 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NNW of Moca, Puerto Rico

23 km (14 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 111 km (69 mi) W of San Juan, PR

10:09 pm AST, Sep 16, 2019 · · 102 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Moca Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Moca Municipio 5 kmAguada Municipio 8 kmAguadilla Municipio 8 kmAñasco Municipio 14 kmIsabela Municipio 14 kmRincón Municipio 16 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 18 kmQuebradillas Municipio 21 kmLas Marías Municipio 25 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
10:09 pm AST on 16 September 2019 ()
Where
in Moca, PR · earthquakes near Moca
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
102 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Moca Municipio, 5 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2613 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Caban, Aguadilla, Luyando, Aceitunas, Rafael Hernandez, Aguada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 50,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 2019-09-05 — about 390 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 36 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 11 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 20 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 26 km NNW 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 18.4088, -67.1178. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Moca Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 19 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 42 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 10 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 24 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 1 km E of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 4 km ESE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 1 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 3 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 20 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 2 km SSE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 35 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 7 km SE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 27 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 6 km WSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 4 km WNW of La Parguera, 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.