QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Santa Isabel, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Isabel in the 24 hours to 3:19 am AST (07:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Isabel

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Santa Isabel, PR, at 9:22 am AST on 18 May 2025 (13:22 UTC), 6.2 km deep.

USGS: 2 km NNW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

22 km (14 mi) E of Ponce, PR

9:22 am AST, May 18, 2025 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 400 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Isabel Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 4 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 8 kmCoamo Municipio 14 kmSalinas Municipio 16 kmVillalba Municipio 17 kmPonce Municipio 21 kmAibonito Municipio 23 kmOrocovis Municipio 26 kmBarranquitas Municipio 26 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
9:22 am AST on 18 May 2025 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Santa Isabel, PR · earthquakes near Santa Isabel
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 4 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 543 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Isabel, 2 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: Santa Isabel 2 km, intensity III · Río Cañas Abajo 8 km, intensity III · Coamo 12 km, intensity III · Ponce 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 38,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 27,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 400 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 300,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 42 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 17.9853, -66.4130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) W earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 4 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.7 5 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 7 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 0 km ENE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 0 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 3 km N of Playita Cortada, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 3 km SW of Utuado, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 1 km ESE of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 1 km SE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 1 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.3 1 km E of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.2 3 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km SSE of Magas Arriba, 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.