QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

55 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 55 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico, 58 km (36 mi) SSW of Ponce, PR, at 12:01 am AST on 8 January 2020 (04:01 UTC), 27 km deep.

58 km (36 mi) SSW of Ponce, PR · 124 km (77 mi) SW of San Juan, PR

· 27 km deep · released about 100 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 55 kmGuayanilla Municipio 57 kmPonce Municipio 58 kmPeñuelas Municipio 59 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 62 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 63 kmLajas Municipio 63 kmYauco Municipio 67 kmSabana Grande Municipio 70 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 55 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1940 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 140,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 100 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 5.8 on 2020-01-06 — about 140,000 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 17.4926, -66.7310. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) NNW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) N earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 62 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) NE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 10 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 10 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 9 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 9 km SSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 11 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 15 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.1 11 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 4.1 6 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 7 km SSE 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.