QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Jayuya, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jayuya in the 24 hours to 1:40 pm AST (17:40 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 43 km (27 mi) SSE, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jayuya

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) north of Jayuya, PR, at 4:37 am AST on 2 January 2020 (08:37 UTC), 45 km deep.

USGS: 5 km N of Jayuya, Puerto Rico

57 km (35 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR · 26 km (16 mi) SE of Arecibo, PR

4:37 am AST, Jan 2, 2020 · · 45 km deep · released about 110 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jayuya Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Jayuya Municipio 7 kmCiales Municipio 8 kmFlorida Municipio 11 kmUtuado Municipio 13 kmOrocovis Municipio 17 kmMorovis Municipio 18 kmVillalba Municipio 20 kmArecibo Municipio 20 kmAdjuntas Municipio 21 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
4:37 am AST on 2 January 2020 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) north of Jayuya, PR · earthquakes near Jayuya
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
45 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Jayuya Municipio, 7 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2470 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 Jayuya, 6 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: Florida, Estancias de Florida, Utuado, La Alianza, Ciales, Bufalo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 4.7 on 2019-12-29 — about 3,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 32 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 47 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 36 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 18.2720, -66.5841. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Jayuya Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) S earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio
Ciales Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ciales Municipio
Florida Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Florida Municipio
Utuado Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Utuado Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Morovis Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 9 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 4.5 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 10 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 1 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 11 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 4 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 5 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 5 km N of Juncal, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 7 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.