QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Trujillo Alto, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Trujillo Alto in the 24 hours to 6:12 pm AST (22:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 83 km (52 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Trujillo Alto

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Trujillo Alto, PR, at 7:03 pm AST on 20 November 2019 (23:03 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 5 km W of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico

in San Juan, PR

7:03 pm AST, Nov 20, 2019 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 530 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Trujillo Alto Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guaynabo Municipio 6 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 7 kmSan Juan Municipio 7 kmCarolina Municipio 10 kmBayamón Municipio 12 kmGurabo Municipio 13 kmCataño Municipio 13 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 14 kmLoíza Municipio 15 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
7:03 pm AST on 20 November 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Trujillo Alto, PR · earthquakes near Trujillo Alto
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guaynabo Municipio, 6 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2548 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Trujillo Alto, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Trujillo Alto 5 km, intensity III · Guaynabo 6 km, intensity III · Cataño 11 km, intensity III · Carolina 11 km, intensity III · Bayamón 11 km, intensity III · San Juan 12 km, intensity III · Caguas 14 km, intensity II · Levittown 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 530 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 450 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 · 14 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 34 km WNW 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 18.3633, -66.0585. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guaynabo Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guaynabo Municipio
Trujillo Alto Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Trujillo Alto Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) N earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Carolina Municipio
Bayamón Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Bayamón Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 6 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 25 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 5 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 2 km W of Humacao, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 3 km ENE of Mariano Colón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 2 km SW of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 1 km SW of Bairoa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 2 km WSW of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 5 km SSE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 0 km ESE of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 17 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 25 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 12 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 4 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 1 km WSW of Coco, 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.