QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Animas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Animas in the 24 hours to 4:20 pm AST (20:20 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 11 km (7 mi) N, at 2:05 am AST on 13 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Animas

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Animas, PR, at 5:49 am AST on 18 December 2019 (09:49 UTC), 86 km deep.

USGS: 7 km NNE of Animas, Puerto Rico

15 km (9 mi) ENE of Arecibo, PR · 59 km (36 mi) WNW of San Juan, PR

5:49 am AST, Dec 18, 2019 · · 86 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Animas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 7 kmArecibo Municipio 11 kmManatí Municipio 14 kmFlorida Municipio 16 kmHatillo Municipio 21 kmVega Baja Municipio 23 kmCiales Municipio 26 kmCamuy Municipio 28 kmUtuado Municipio 28 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
5:49 am AST on 18 December 2019 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Animas, PR · earthquakes near Animas
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
86 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 7 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2440 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 Animas, 7 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: Garrochales, Sabana Hoyos, Barceloneta, Imbery, Bufalo, Arecibo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 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 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 2018-12-09 — about 500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 8 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 28 km E 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 18.5078, -66.6093. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) SE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 19 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 46 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 45 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 19 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 12 km W of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 5 km E of Lares, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.8 7 km WSW of Cayuco, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 8 km NW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 11 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 8 km WNW of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.1 3 km ESE of Lares, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 5 km N of Juncal, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 7 km SW of Jayuya, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 5 km N of Jayuya, 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.