QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near G. L. Garcia, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in G. L. Garcia in the 24 hours to 5:30 pm AST (21:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 44 km (27 mi) SW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) east of G. L. Garcia, PR, at 9:15 am AST on 3 January 2026 (13:15 UTC), 29 km deep.

USGS: 3 km E of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico

12 km (7 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR · 31 km (19 mi) S of San Juan, PR

9:15 am AST, Jan 3, 2026 · · 29 km deep · released about 24 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near G. L. Garcia Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cayey Municipio 9 kmCaguas Municipio 9 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 10 kmCidra Municipio 11 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 15 kmPatillas Municipio 17 kmArroyo Municipio 18 kmGuayama Municipio 19 kmGurabo Municipio 19 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
9:15 am AST on 3 January 2026 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) east of G. L. Garcia, PR · earthquakes near G. L. Garcia
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
29 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cayey Municipio, 9 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 312 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In G. L. Garcia, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Jagual, Cayey, Parcelas Nuevas, Cidra, Yaurel, Santa Clara.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 10,000 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 · 16 km NNW 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 18.1285, -66.0708. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cayey Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNE earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) SSE earthquakes near Patillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 3 km ESE of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 5 km N of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  4. 4.2 2 km SW of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 3 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.5 1 km NE of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 1 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 2 km ESE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 2 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 1 km W of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.5 6 km S of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 4 km ESE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 2 km WNW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 2 km WSW of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 2 km SSW of Vázquez, 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.