Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
97 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 97 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico, at 6:47 am AST on 3 January 2020 (10:47 UTC), 20 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Aguadilla Municipio, 98 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2465 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Isabela, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Isabela, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 48,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 46 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 93 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 6 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 67 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.7 88 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 12 km SE 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 19.3420, -67.3371. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla Municipio, PR | 98 km (61 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio |
| Isabela Municipio, PR | 101 km (63 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Isabela Municipio |
| Quebradillas Municipio, PR | 106 km (66 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio |
| Aguada Municipio, PR | 109 km (67 mi) | S | earthquakes near Aguada Municipio |
| Moca Municipio, PR | 111 km (69 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Moca Municipio |
| Camuy Municipio, PR | 111 km (69 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Camuy Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 79 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 111 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 85 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 106 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 86 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 80 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 93 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 4.0 91 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 90 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 63 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 93 km NW of San Antonio, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.