QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

49 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico, at 8:59 am AST on 9 December 2019 (12:59 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

· 9.0 km deep · released about 210 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 49 kmRincón Municipio 50 kmAguada Municipio 52 kmMoca Municipio 61 kmIsabela Municipio 61 kmAñasco Municipio 63 kmQuebradillas Municipio 70 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 73 kmMayagüez Municipio 75 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
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 49 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2529 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 210 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 72,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 580 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km ESE 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 18.6845, -67.5550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 Mona Passage
  2. 3.2 Mona Passage
  3. 2.7 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 86 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.9 68 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 80 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.8 82 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 83 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 78 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 56 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 71 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.8 79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.0 74 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.7 57 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.