QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Santa Isabel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Isabel in the 24 hours to 12:56 pm AST (16:56 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Isabel

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded in Santa Isabel, PR, at 2:50 pm AST on 17 September 2019 (18:50 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

61 km (38 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 25 km (15 mi) E of Ponce, PR

2:50 pm AST, Sep 17, 2019 · · 11 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Isabel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 1 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 11 kmSalinas Municipio 14 kmCoamo Municipio 17 kmVillalba Municipio 21 kmPonce Municipio 23 kmAibonito Municipio 24 kmGuayama Municipio 27 kmBarranquitas 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
2:50 pm AST on 17 September 2019 ()
Where
in Santa Isabel, PR · earthquakes near Santa Isabel
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 1 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2612 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Santa Isabel in town, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 43 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 17.9595, -66.3956. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ponce 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. 2.2 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 15 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 1 km SW of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 3 km ESE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 2 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 12 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 15 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 1 km ESE of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 12 km S of Ponce, 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.