QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Santo Domingo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Santo Domingo in the 24 hours to 4:27 pm AST (20:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 6 km (4 mi) SW, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santo Domingo

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south of Santo Domingo, PR, at 6:21 am AST on 7 January 2020 (10:21 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 2 km S of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico

14 km (9 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

6:21 am AST, Jan 7, 2020 · · 17 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santo Domingo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 3 kmGuayanilla Municipio 6 kmYauco Municipio 12 kmAdjuntas Municipio 16 kmPonce Municipio 16 kmGuánica Municipio 21 kmSabana Grande Municipio 21 kmMaricao Municipio 25 kmJayuya 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
6:21 am AST on 7 January 2020 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south of Santo Domingo, PR · earthquakes near Santo Domingo
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 3 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2418 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 Santo Domingo, 3 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: Magas Arriba, Peñuelas, Guayanilla, Tallaboa Alta, Tallaboa, Indios.

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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 11,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.0408, -66.7495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 3 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 2 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 2 km NE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.7 0 km NW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 6 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 6 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 0 km N of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 1 km E of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 2 km NW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 1 km NW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 0 km N of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 0 km E of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 2 km SW of Santo Domingo, 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.