QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Espino, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Espino in the 24 hours to 4:26 pm AST (20:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) S, at 5:47 pm AST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Espino

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Espino, PR, at 6:10 am AST on 12 December 2019 (10:10 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SSW of Espino, Puerto Rico

6 km (3 mi) NNE of Mayagüez, PR · 113 km (70 mi) W of San Juan, PR

6:10 am AST, Dec 12, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 26 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Espino Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Añasco Municipio 4 kmHormigueros Municipio 13 kmMoca Municipio 15 kmAguada Municipio 16 kmLas Marías Municipio 16 kmRincón Municipio 17 kmSan Germán Municipio 18 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 19 kmMaricao Municipio 22 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
6:10 am AST on 12 December 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Espino, PR · earthquakes near Espino
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Añasco Municipio, 4 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2526 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Espino, 3 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: Añasco, Mayagüez, Las Marias, La Playa, Hormigueros, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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 4.3 on 2019-09-05 — about 3,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 44 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 18 km NNE 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 18.2483, -67.1258. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Añasco Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) N earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 9 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 1 km SE of Piedra Gorda, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 10 km ESE of Maricao, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 5 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 29 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 11 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 3 km N of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 5 km S of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 13 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 19 km SSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 Mona Passage
  13. 1.6 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 30 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 15 km SW of Stella, 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.