QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 11:31 am AST (15:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) north-northwest of Mayagüez, PR, at 7:54 am AST on 11 December 2019 (11:54 UTC), 85 km deep.

USGS: 23 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

48 km (30 mi) NNW of Mayagüez, PR · 131 km (81 mi) W of San Juan, PR

7:54 am AST, Dec 11, 2019 · · 85 km deep · released about 570 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 21 kmAguada Municipio 29 kmRincón Municipio 31 kmIsabela Municipio 32 kmMoca Municipio 34 kmAñasco Municipio 40 kmQuebradillas Municipio 41 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 46 kmCamuy Municipio 48 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
7:54 am AST on 11 December 2019 ()
Where
49 km (30 mi) north-northwest of Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
85 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 21 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2443 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 Mayagüez, 49 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Caban, Aguadilla, Rafael Hernandez, Aguada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 570 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 27,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 570 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 5.1 on 2019-09-24 — about 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 14 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 11 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 9 km SE 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 18.6158, -67.2838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) SSE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 23 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 61 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 60 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 1 km ESE of Espino, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 57 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 44 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 9 km N of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 42 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 14 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 60 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 48 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 2 km NNE of Las Marias, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 1 km SE of Piedra Gorda, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.6 72 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.3 5 km SSW of La Playa, 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.