QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

55 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 55 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico, at 12:35 am AST on 31 December 2019 (04:35 UTC), 118 km deep.

· 118 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 32 kmRincón Municipio 56 kmAguada Municipio 63 kmAguadilla Municipio 68 kmAñasco Municipio 69 kmMoca Municipio 74 kmHormigueros Municipio 74 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 74 kmIsabela Municipio 82 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
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
118 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 32 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2433 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more

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 2017-10-01 — about 68 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 47 km ESE 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 18.3533, -67.7780. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 26.6 km SE of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 23.8 km ESE of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 23.2 km NE of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 22 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.6 24 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 23.5 km ESE of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 24 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 43 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.6 66 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.4 49 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 51 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 32 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.6 43 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.6 54 km WSW of Stella, 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.