QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Emajagua, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Emajagua in the 24 hours to 12:53 pm AST (16:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (5 mi) ESE, at 2:59 pm AST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Emajagua

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Emajagua, PR, at 4:06 am AST on 5 January 2020 (08:06 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 9 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico

58 km (36 mi) SSE of San Juan, PR · 40 km (25 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

4:06 am AST, Jan 5, 2020 · · 18 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Emajagua Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Maunabo Municipio 11 kmYabucoa Municipio 14 kmPatillas Municipio 20 kmHumacao Municipio 22 kmArroyo Municipio 24 kmLas Piedras Municipio 28 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 29 kmNaguabo Municipio 31 kmJuncos Municipio 33 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
4:06 am AST on 5 January 2020 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) southeast of Emajagua, PR · earthquakes near Emajagua
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Maunabo Municipio, 11 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2459 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 Emajagua, 10 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: El Negro, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Palo Seco, Playita, Comunas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 22,000 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 · 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 17.9388, -65.8138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Maunabo Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) WNW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Arroyo Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) W earthquakes near Arroyo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 28 km (18 mi) NNW earthquakes near Las Piedras 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. 2.7 27 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.2 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 2 km E of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 21 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 5 km ESE of Aguas Claras, 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.