QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Magas Arriba, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Magas Arriba in the 24 hours to 1:41 pm AST (17:41 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 2 km (2 mi) W, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Magas Arriba

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) south-southwest of Magas Arriba, PR, at 9:15 am AST on 7 January 2020 (13:15 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico

16 km (10 mi) W of Ponce, PR

9:15 am AST, Jan 7, 2020 · · 13 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Magas Arriba Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayanilla Municipio 2 kmPeñuelas Municipio 6 kmYauco Municipio 12 kmGuánica Municipio 16 kmPonce Municipio 18 kmSabana Grande Municipio 20 kmAdjuntas Municipio 20 kmMaricao Municipio 25 kmLajas Municipio 28 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
9:15 am AST on 7 January 2020 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) south-southwest of Magas Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Magas Arriba
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayanilla Municipio, 2 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2403 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 Magas Arriba, 2 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: Guayanilla, Indios, Tallaboa, Santo Domingo, Yauco, Peñuelas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 16,000,000 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 18.0023, -66.7796. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) W earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) ENE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sabana Grande 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. 2.3 1 km S of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 11 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 0 km SSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 5 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 2 km NNE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 4 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 1 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 3 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.5 3 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 4.1 6 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.9 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.0 7 km S of Indios, 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.