QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Pole Ojea, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pole Ojea in the 24 hours to 1:00 pm AST (17:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) ENE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pole Ojea

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Pole Ojea, PR, at 4:45 am AST on 27 September 2019 (08:45 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 7 km WNW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

26 km (16 mi) SSW of Mayagüez, PR · 133 km (83 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

4:45 am AST, Sep 27, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pole Ojea Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cabo Rojo Municipio 7 kmHormigueros Municipio 21 kmLajas Municipio 22 kmSan Germán Municipio 26 kmSabana Grande Municipio 33 kmAñasco Municipio 35 kmGuánica Municipio 35 kmRincón Municipio 38 kmLas Marías Municipio 39 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
4:45 am AST on 27 September 2019 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Pole Ojea, PR · earthquakes near Pole Ojea
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cabo Rojo Municipio, 7 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2602 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 Pole Ojea, 7 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: Boquerón, Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, Monte Grande, Palmarejo, Sabana Eneas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 3,500 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 · 50 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 24 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 17.9950, -67.2490. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) NNE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 25 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 10 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 12 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 10 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.0 3 km W of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 4 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 5 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 32 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 44 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 1 km W of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 11 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 8 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 0 km NW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.7 3 km WNW of Pole Ojea, 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.