QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Guayabal, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Guayabal in the 24 hours to 10:41 am AST (14:41 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (17 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Guayabal

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east of Guayabal, PR, at 5:11 pm AST on 18 October 2019 (21:11 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 4 km E of Guayabal, Puerto Rico

20 km (12 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

5:11 pm AST, Oct 18, 2019 · · 12 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Guayabal Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Villalba Municipio 6 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 10 kmCoamo Municipio 11 kmOrocovis Municipio 15 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 16 kmPonce Municipio 18 kmJayuya Municipio 20 kmBarranquitas Municipio 21 kmAibonito Municipio 21 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
5:11 pm AST on 18 October 2019 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east of Guayabal, PR · earthquakes near Guayabal
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Villalba Municipio, 6 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2581 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Guayabal, 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: Río Cañas Abajo 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 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 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 2019-03-12 — about 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 48 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 18.0826, -66.4596. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Villalba Municipio, PR 6 km (3 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 11 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 4 km SSW of Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 2 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 4 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 8 km ESE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 2 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 2 km ESE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 6 km SSE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 15 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 4 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 6 km SSW of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 4 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 2 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 2 km SSW of Sabana Hoyos, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.9 2 km SSW of Las Ochenta, 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.