QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Dorado, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Dorado in the 24 hours to 6:02 pm AST (22:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 92 km (57 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dorado

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) north-northeast of Dorado, PR, at 11:14 pm AST on 29 November 2019 (03:14 UTC), 71 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NNE of Dorado, Puerto Rico

25 km (16 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 22 km (14 mi) NNW of Bayamón, PR

11:14 pm AST, Nov 29, 2019 · · 71 km deep · released about 290 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dorado Municipio 11 kmToa Baja Municipio 13 kmCataño Municipio 16 kmVega Alta Municipio 19 kmVega Baja Municipio 22 kmToa Alta Municipio 23 kmSan Juan Municipio 24 kmBayamón Municipio 25 kmGuaynabo Municipio 28 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
11:14 pm AST on 29 November 2019 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) north-northeast of Dorado, PR · earthquakes near Dorado
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
71 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Dorado Municipio, 11 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2539 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Dorado, 13 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: Ingenio, Levittown, Toa Baja, San Antonio, Brenas, Campanilla.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 290 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 290 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 1,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 35 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 14 km WSW 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 18.5686, -66.2301. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dorado Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
Cataño Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 19 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) SW earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Toa Alta Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) S earthquakes near Toa Alta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 1 km WNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 0 km SE of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 2 km S of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 2 km N of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 54 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 1 km SSE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  9. 3.2 38 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 3 km NNW of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 1 km ESE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 0 km WSW of Galateo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 6 km NE of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 51 km N of Dorado, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 3 km NNW of Loíza, 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.