QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 11:31 am AST (15:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of La Parguera, PR, at 4:43 am AST on 22 December 2019 (08:43 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 10 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

44 km (27 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR · 38 km (24 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

4:43 am AST, Dec 22, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 11 kmGuánica Municipio 13 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 21 kmSabana Grande Municipio 24 kmSan Germán Municipio 25 kmGuayanilla Municipio 27 kmYauco Municipio 28 kmHormigueros Municipio 30 kmMaricao Municipio 34 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
4:43 am AST on 22 December 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 11 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2516 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 11 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: Guánica, Fuig, Maria Antonia, Palmarejo, Lajas, Liborio Negron Torres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 4.3 on 2019-09-05 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW 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 17.8805, -67.0190. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.6 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 5 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.6 4 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 4.7 5 km SSE of Maria Antonia, 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.