QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9md

Earthquake near Rincón, PR

USGS: 19 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

38 km (24 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 141 km (87 mi) W of San Juan, PR

6:35 am AST, Oct 3, 2026 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Rincón Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 20 kmAguada Municipio 24 kmAguadilla Municipio 27 kmAñasco Municipio 33 kmMoca Municipio 34 kmIsabela Municipio 41 kmHormigueros Municipio 46 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 47 kmQuebradillas Municipio 50 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
6:35 am AST on 3 October 2026 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) NW of Rincón, PR · earthquakes near Rincón
Magnitude
M 3.9 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
9 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 20 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1 hour ago

A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) NW of Rincón, PR, at 6:35 am AST on 3 October 2026 (10:35 UTC). 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stella, Aguada, Aguadilla, Luyando, Caban, La Playa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 19× 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 6.7 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 36 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 19 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 49 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 21 km ENE 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 18.4461, -67.3978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 34 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 41 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.