QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Jobos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jobos in the 24 hours to 12:55 pm AST (16:55 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (18 mi) WSW, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jobos

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Jobos, PR, at 9:27 pm AST on 8 January 2026 (01:27 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NNE of Jobos, Puerto Rico

48 km (30 mi) S of San Juan, PR · 30 km (19 mi) SSW of Caguas, PR

9:27 pm AST, Jan 8, 2026 · · 17 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jobos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayama Municipio 2 kmArroyo Municipio 11 kmSalinas Municipio 12 kmCayey Municipio 13 kmPatillas Municipio 17 kmAibonito Municipio 20 kmCidra Municipio 21 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 26 kmSan Lorenzo 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
9:27 pm AST on 8 January 2026 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Jobos, PR · earthquakes near Jobos
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayama Municipio, 2 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 307 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 Jobos, 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: Guayama, Olimpo, Corazón, Coquí, Central Aguirre, La Plena.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 15,000 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 · 31 km N 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 17.9837, -66.1485. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayama Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) SE earthquakes near Guayama Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) E earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Cayey Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Cayey Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Aibonito 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. 1.8 6 km SSE of Arroyo, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 2 km N of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 1 km SSW of Candelaria Arenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 0 km SSW of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 5 km N of Coamo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 6 km SSE of Salinas, Puerto Rico
  7. 4.2 2 km SW of Río Lajas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 3 km ENE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 3 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 1 km NE of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 1 km SE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 2 km ESE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 2 km SE of Jobos, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 1 km W of Santa Clara, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 6 km S of Central Aguirre, 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.