QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 5:29 pm AST (21:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR, at 5:01 pm AST on 3 October 2019 (21:01 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 28 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

74 km (46 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 58 km (36 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

5:01 pm AST, Oct 3, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 31 kmYabucoa Municipio 31 kmHumacao Municipio 33 kmVieques Municipio 34 kmNaguabo Municipio 38 kmPatillas Municipio 40 kmCeiba Municipio 41 kmLas Piedras Municipio 42 kmArroyo Municipio 45 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
5:01 pm AST on 3 October 2019 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) southwest of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 31 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2596 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 29 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: El Negro, Emajagua.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.8853, -65.6265. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 31 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) NNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas 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. 2.9 33 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 27 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 34 km SSE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 1 km E of Candelero Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 13 km NNW of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 23 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 15 km SW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 21 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 21 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 21 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.7 14 km N of Isabel Segunda, 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.