QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Espino, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Espino in the 24 hours to 4:25 pm AST (20:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) S, at 5:47 pm AST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Espino

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 6 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Espino, PR, at 7:12 pm AST on 20 September 2019 (23:12 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 5 km ENE of Espino, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) NE of Mayagüez, PR · 107 km (66 mi) W of San Juan, PR

7:12 pm AST, Sep 20, 2019 · · 23 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Espino Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 7 kmMoca Municipio 10 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 11 kmLas Marías Municipio 12 kmAguada Municipio 15 kmHormigueros Municipio 18 kmMaricao Municipio 19 kmRincón Municipio 20 kmSan Germán Municipio 21 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
7:12 pm AST on 20 September 2019 ()
Where
6 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Espino, PR · earthquakes near Espino
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 7 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2609 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 Espino, 6 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: Añasco, Las Marias, San Sebastián, Luyando, Moca, La Playa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 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 18.2923, -67.0698. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Moca Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 4 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 3 km WNW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 8 km NW of Caban, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 3 km SW of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 25 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 7 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 19 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 10 km NNW of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 24 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 1 km E of Lluveras, 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.