QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 6:04 pm AST (22:04 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rincón

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR, at 6:24 am AST on 9 February 2021 (10:24 UTC), 18 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 19 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

37 km (23 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 142 km (88 mi) W of San Juan, PR

6:24 am AST, Feb 9, 2021 · · 18 km deep · released about 3.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 19 kmAguada Municipio 24 kmAguadilla Municipio 29 kmAñasco Municipio 33 kmMoca Municipio 35 kmIsabela Municipio 42 kmHormigueros Municipio 44 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 48 kmLas Marías Municipio 50 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
6:24 am AST on 9 February 2021 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) west-northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.5 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 19 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2029 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 64 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Rincón 19 km, intensity III · Aguada 24 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 27 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 35 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 38 km, intensity II · Isabela 42 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 45 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 3.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.7× 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 19 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 48 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 24 km NE 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 18.4211, -67.4103. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 51 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 38 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 31 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 11 km WSW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 58 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 7 km NNE of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 35 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 20 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 41 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 7 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 1 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 16 km SSW 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.