QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.2ml

3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico

· 7.0 km deep · released about 30 tons of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 1 kmLajas Municipio 11 kmSabana Grande Municipio 15 kmGuayanilla Municipio 16 kmYauco Municipio 17 kmSan Germán Municipio 21 kmPeñuelas Municipio 24 kmMaricao Municipio 25 kmCabo Rojo 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
Magnitude
M 4.2 (ml)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
12 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 1 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2369 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 12 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 30 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 63× more

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.

Where

Epicentre 17.9508, -66.9356. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Guánica Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) S of here earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Germán 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. 2.1 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 1 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 1 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 2 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 0 km SSW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 5 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 7 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.8 2 km ENE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.0 3 km W of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 1 km WNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 6 km SSW of Tallaboa, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — it released about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.