QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the last 24 hours. M 2.3, 16 km (10 mi) W of Ponce, at 7:05 pm AST on 12 November 2026 (23:05 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ponce was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) southwest of Ponce, PR, at 2:04 am AST on 8 January 2020 (06:04 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 4 km SW of Ponce, Puerto Rico

in Ponce, PR

2:04 am AST, Jan 8, 2020 · · 13 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 5 kmPeñuelas Municipio 10 kmGuayanilla Municipio 16 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 17 kmVillalba Municipio 25 kmYauco Municipio 25 kmAdjuntas Municipio 25 kmJayuya Municipio 26 kmSanta Isabel 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
2:04 am AST on 8 January 2020 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ponce Municipio, 5 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1875 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 4 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.

Likely felt in: Ponce 4 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 8 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 10 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 14 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 710,000 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 17.9800, -66.6461. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ponce Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WNW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yauco 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. 2.9 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 Puerto Rico region
  3. 2.0 1 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  4. 4.1 6 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 3 km SE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 7 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 11 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.0 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 2 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 12 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.9 3 km SSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 0 km N of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 Puerto Rico region
  15. 3.1 5 km S of Magas Arriba, 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.