QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Indios, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Indios in the 24 hours to 12:09 pm AST (16:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 3 km (2 mi) SW, at 4:21 am AST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Indios

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south of Indios, PR, at 4:24 pm AST on 29 December 2019 (20:24 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico

23 km (15 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR

4:24 pm AST, Dec 29, 2019 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Indios Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayanilla Municipio 12 kmGuánica Municipio 12 kmPeñuelas Municipio 17 kmYauco Municipio 21 kmSabana Grande Municipio 25 kmLajas Municipio 25 kmPonce Municipio 25 kmAdjuntas Municipio 32 kmSan Germán Municipio 33 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
4:24 pm AST on 29 December 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south of Indios, PR · earthquakes near Indios
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayanilla Municipio, 12 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2508 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Indios, 11 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: Maria Antonia, Guánica, Guayanilla, Palomas, Magas Arriba, Fuig.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 5.0 on 2019-12-29 — about 59,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.8991, -66.8186. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) NNW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 6 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 9 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 19 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 10 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 9 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 13 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 8 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.6 5 km SSW of Guánica, 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.