QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 1:47 pm AST (17:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) north of Aguadilla, PR, at 8:09 pm AST on 9 December 2019 (00:09 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 40 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

8:09 pm AST, Dec 9, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 860 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguadilla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 41 kmIsabela Municipio 44 kmQuebradillas Municipio 51 kmAguada Municipio 52 kmMoca Municipio 53 kmRincón Municipio 56 kmCamuy Municipio 57 kmHatillo Municipio 61 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 62 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
8:09 pm AST on 9 December 2019 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) north of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 41 km S
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 31 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguadilla, 46 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 860 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 860 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 35,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 11 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 16 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 32 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 45 km S 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 18.8416, -67.2005. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) S earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 44 km (28 mi) SSE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 51 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) S earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 78 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 76 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 55 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 69 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 56 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 80 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 71 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 Mona Passage
  9. 2.5 88 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 88 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 57 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 68 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 83 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 41 km NW 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.