QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Humacao, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Humacao in the 24 hours to 4:28 pm AST (20:28 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 56 km (35 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Humacao

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) west of Humacao, PR, at 8:58 am AST on 26 December 2019 (12:58 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 2 km W of Humacao, Puerto Rico

36 km (23 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 22 km (14 mi) ESE of Caguas, PR

8:58 am AST, Dec 26, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Humacao Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Piedras Municipio 5 kmHumacao Municipio 7 kmYabucoa Municipio 10 kmJuncos Municipio 11 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 13 kmNaguabo Municipio 14 kmMaunabo Municipio 17 kmGurabo Municipio 20 kmCanóvanas Municipio 21 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
8:58 am AST on 26 December 2019 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) west of Humacao, PR · earthquakes near Humacao
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Piedras Municipio, 5 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2433 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Humacao, 2 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.

Likely felt in: Humacao 2 km, intensity II · Jagual 16 km, intensity II · Emajagua 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 33 km WNW 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 18.1476, -65.8491. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Naguabo 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.

  1. 3.1 21 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 5 km ESE of Aguas Claras, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.8 3 km E of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 2 km S of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 22 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 5 km SE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 26 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 2 km N of Jagual, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 14 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 Puerto Rico region
  12. 2.9 28 km SSW of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 1 km SSE of Cidra, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.9 33 km SE of Emajagua, 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.