QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 5:58 pm AST (21:58 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south of Salinas, PR, at 4:11 am AST on 21 September 2019 (08:11 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km S of Salinas, Puerto Rico

63 km (39 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 37 km (23 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

4:11 am AST, Sep 21, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 11 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 12 kmGuayama Municipio 20 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 24 kmCoamo Municipio 25 kmAibonito Municipio 28 kmArroyo Municipio 29 kmCayey Municipio 29 kmVillalba Municipio 33 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
4:11 am AST on 21 September 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south of Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 11 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2608 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 11 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: Central Aguirre, Las Ochenta, Jauca, Coquí, Parcelas Peñuelas, Coco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 2016-12-05 — about 19,000 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 · 45 km NNE 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 17.8826, -66.2993. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito 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. 3.8 3 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.7 11 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 13 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 1 km SSE of Las Ollas, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 10 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 12 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 4 km E of Guayabal, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 12 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  11. 1.9 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 1 km WSW of Río Cañas Abajo, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 10 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 15 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, 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.