QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Cacao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Cacao in the 24 hours to 12:58 pm AST (16:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 40 km (25 mi) NNW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cacao

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Cacao, PR, at 12:10 am AST on 29 September 2019 (04:10 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SSE of Cacao, Puerto Rico

90 km (56 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 20 km (12 mi) WSW of Arecibo, PR

12:10 am AST, Sep 29, 2019 · · 13 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cacao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Quebradillas Municipio 7 kmCamuy Municipio 7 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 10 kmHatillo Municipio 13 kmIsabela Municipio 14 kmLares Municipio 15 kmMoca Municipio 17 kmLas Marías Municipio 20 kmMaricao Municipio 25 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
12:10 am AST on 29 September 2019 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Cacao, PR · earthquakes near Cacao
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Quebradillas Municipio, 7 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2597 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Cacao, 4 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.

Likely felt in: Quebradillas 8 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 11 km, intensity II · Lares 13 km, intensity II · Hatillo 13 km, intensity II · Isabela 16 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 32 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 38 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 41 km ENE 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 18.4018, -66.9166. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
San Sebastián Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near San Sebastián Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lares Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km NNE of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 29 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 1 km W of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 10 km WNW of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 3 km SE of Utuado, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 17 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 10 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 11 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 30 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 15 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 0 km NW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 1 km S of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 12 km NNW of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 4 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 10 km W of Adjuntas, 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.