QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Adjuntas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Adjuntas in the 24 hours to 9:22 am AST (13:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 31 km (19 mi) SSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Adjuntas

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west of Adjuntas, PR, at 6:22 pm AST on 7 January 2020 (22:22 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 12 km W of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico

30 km (18 mi) NW of Ponce, PR

6:22 pm AST, Jan 7, 2020 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Adjuntas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Adjuntas Municipio 9 kmYauco Municipio 9 kmMaricao Municipio 10 kmLares Municipio 12 kmSabana Grande Municipio 15 kmLas Marías Municipio 16 kmUtuado Municipio 19 kmGuayanilla Municipio 19 kmPeñuelas Municipio 20 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
6:22 pm AST on 7 January 2020 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) west of Adjuntas, PR · earthquakes near Adjuntas
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Adjuntas Municipio, 9 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2336 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Adjuntas, 13 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: Lares, Maricao, Yauco, Santo Domingo, Lluveras, Sabana Grande.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 20,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 50 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 35 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 18.1680, -66.8408. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Maricao Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Maricao Municipio
Lares Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lares Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Las Marías 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. 2.5 22 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.6 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 1 km NE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.1 0 km WNW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.8 1 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.8 1 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 1 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 0 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 2 km S of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 9 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 Puerto Rico region
  13. 2.0 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 1 km WNW of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 3 km NNW of Guayanilla, 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.