QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 5:18 pm AST (21:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) north of Mayagüez, PR, at 12:59 am AST on 18 October 2019 (04:59 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 17 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

49 km (30 mi) N of Mayagüez, PR · 119 km (74 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

12:59 am AST, Oct 18, 2019 · · 11 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 18 kmIsabela Municipio 24 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmMoca Municipio 31 kmQuebradillas Municipio 32 kmRincón Municipio 34 kmCamuy Municipio 39 kmAñasco Municipio 39 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 40 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
12:59 am AST on 18 October 2019 ()
Where
49 km (30 mi) north of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 18 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2582 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Mayagüez, 49 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: Rafael Hernandez, Isabela, Caban, Aguadilla, Mora, Aceitunas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 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 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 7 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 12 km SW 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 18.6390, -67.1680. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) SSW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 50 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 3 km E of Espino, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 54 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 43 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 35 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 61 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 36 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 2 km SSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 2 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 57 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 45 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 66 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 Mona Passage
  14. 2.9 60 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 47 km NNW of San Antonio, 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.