QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Salinas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:48 pm AST (16:48 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Salinas, PR, at 2:00 am AST on 25 October 2019 (06:00 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Salinas, Puerto Rico

52 km (32 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR · 36 km (23 mi) E of Ponce, PR

2:00 am AST, Oct 25, 2019 · · 19 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salinas Municipio 3 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 12 kmGuayama Municipio 15 kmCoamo Municipio 15 kmAibonito Municipio 16 kmCayey Municipio 19 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 22 kmBarranquitas Municipio 24 kmCidra Municipio 24 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
2:00 am AST on 25 October 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) east-northeast of Salinas, PR · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salinas Municipio, 3 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2574 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 Salinas, 2 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: Coco, Las Ochenta, Coquí, Parcelas Peñuelas, Mariano Colón, Central Aguirre.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 36,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 34 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 17.9875, -66.2803. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salinas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayama Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Cayey Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 9 km SSW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 13 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 0 km NNW of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 3 km SE of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 10 km SW of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 8 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  9. 2.6 8 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.6 3 km NNE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 2 km SSW of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 12 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 1 km WNW of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.5 1 km E of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 2 km SE of Palmarejo, 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.