QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6ml

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 11:32 am AST (15:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northwest of La Parguera, PR, at 7:33 pm AST on 12 January 2020 (23:33 UTC), 7.0 km deep. 50 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km NW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

24 km (15 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR · 116 km (72 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

7:33 pm AST, Jan 12, 2020 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 3.4 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 4 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 12 kmSan Germán Municipio 13 kmHormigueros Municipio 16 kmSabana Grande Municipio 16 kmGuánica Municipio 17 kmMaricao Municipio 24 kmYauco Municipio 25 kmLas Marías 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
7:33 pm AST on 12 January 2020 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) northwest of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 3.6 (ml)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
50 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 4 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2414 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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: San Germán 10 km, intensity III · Pole Ojea 12 km, intensity III · Puerto Real 15 km, intensity III · Mayagüez 24 km, intensity III · Yauco 24 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 30 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 32 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 38 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 50,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.2× 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 38 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 37 km WNW 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 17.9965, -67.0720. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 4 km (2 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Guánica 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 2 km SSE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 0 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 4 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 2 km ESE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 3 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 14 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 16 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.6 7 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 10 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 10 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.5 17 km SSE of Guánica, 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.