Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Mona Passage
Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, 37 km (23 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR, at 7:12 pm AST on 16 December 2019 (23:12 UTC), 14 km deep.
37 km (23 mi) WNW of Arecibo, PR · 106 km (66 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Isabela Municipio, 13 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2521 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Isabela, PR
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 19 km (12 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.
Likely felt in: Isabela 11 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 14 km, intensity II · Quebradillas 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 220 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 70,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 50,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 in our catalogue was M 4.8 on 2019-11-29 — about 2,100 times the energy of this one.
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 18.5960, -67.0493. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isabela Municipio, PR | 13 km (8 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Isabela Municipio |
| Aguadilla Municipio, PR | 16 km (10 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio |
| Quebradillas Municipio, PR | 19 km (12 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio |
| Moca Municipio, PR | 24 km (15 mi) | S | earthquakes near Moca Municipio |
| Camuy Municipio, PR | 26 km (16 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Camuy Municipio |
| Aguada Municipio, PR | 28 km (18 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Aguada Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 42 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 5 km E of Lares, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 7 km WSW of Cayuco, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 Puerto Rico region
- 3.1 37 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 1 km SSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 6 km WNW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 15 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 45 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 3 km ESE of Lares, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 5 km N of Juncal, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 57 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 39 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.2 23 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 33 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.