Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Yaurel, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Yaurel in the 24 hours to 10:45 am AST (14:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 42 km (26 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yaurel
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Yaurel, PR, at 11:01 am AST on 26 December 2019 (15:01 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 5 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
37 km (23 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 17 km (11 mi) S of Caguas, PR
- When
- 11:01 am AST on 26 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north of Yaurel, PR · earthquakes near Yaurel
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Cayey Municipio, 11 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2512 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Yaurel, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Yaurel, PR. No account or email needed.
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 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Yaurel, 5 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: G. L. Garcia, Patillas, Buena Vista, Corazón, Olimpo, Palmas.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 43,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 22 km NNW 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 18.0763, -66.0546. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cayey Municipio, PR | 11 km (7 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Cayey Municipio |
| Patillas Municipio, PR | 11 km (7 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Patillas Municipio |
| San Lorenzo Municipio, PR | 11 km (7 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio |
| Arroyo Municipio, PR | 12 km (7 mi) | S | earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio |
| Guayama Municipio, PR | 14 km (9 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Guayama Municipio |
| Caguas Municipio, PR | 15 km (9 mi) | N | earthquakes near Caguas Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
8 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 1 km S of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 4 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
- 1.7 9 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 3 km WSW of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
- 2.2 6 km N of Yaurel, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 1 km SW of Las Ochenta, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 4 km SE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 11 km S of Salinas, 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.