QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Puerto Real, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Puerto Real in the 24 hours to 4:36 pm AST (20:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Puerto Real

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) west-northwest of Puerto Real, PR, at 12:27 am AST on 17 September 2019 (04:27 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 24 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico

29 km (18 mi) WSW of Mayagüez, PR · 145 km (90 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

12:27 am AST, Sep 17, 2019 · · 19 km deep · released about 110 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Puerto Real Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 29 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 29 kmHormigueros Municipio 31 kmAñasco Municipio 34 kmAguada Municipio 36 kmSan Germán Municipio 40 kmLajas Municipio 43 kmMoca Municipio 44 kmLas Marías Municipio 47 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
12:27 am AST on 17 September 2019 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) west-northwest of Puerto Real, PR · earthquakes near Puerto Real
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 29 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2613 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Puerto Real, 24 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: Stella, Boquerón, Cabo Rojo, Rincón, La Playa, Pole Ojea.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 760 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 8 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 6 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 18.1323, -67.4108. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 36 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán 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. 2.6 31 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 7 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 37 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 13 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 Mona Passage
  6. 2.0 2 km NNE of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 4 km WNW of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.5 3 km WNW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 8 km NW of Caban, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 3 km SW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 7 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 4 km ESE of Boquerón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 1 km SE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 3 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 20 km SW of Stella, 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.