QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Rincón in the 24 hours to 5:29 pm AST (21:29 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR, at 5:05 pm AST on 22 July 2021 (21:05 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 14 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

33 km (21 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 136 km (85 mi) W of San Juan, PR

5:05 pm AST, Jul 22, 2021 · · 13 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 14 kmAguada Municipio 19 kmAguadilla Municipio 23 kmAñasco Municipio 28 kmMoca Municipio 29 kmIsabela Municipio 36 kmHormigueros Municipio 41 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 42 kmQuebradillas Municipio 45 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
5:05 pm AST on 22 July 2021 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) northwest of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 14 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1938 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Rincón, 14 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: Rincón 14 km, intensity II · Aguada 18 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 21 km, intensity II · Rafael Hernandez 29 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 34 km, intensity II · Isabela 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 110 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 21 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 15 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 19 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 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 18.4255, -67.3533. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 28 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 26 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 8 km W of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.3 43 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 16 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 31 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 27 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 6 km E of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 55 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 31 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 15 km NW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 48 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 3 km NW of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 11 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 7 km WNW of Aguadilla, 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.