Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near Peñuelas, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Peñuelas in the 24 hours to 10:14 am AST (14:14 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) WSW, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Peñuelas
This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in Peñuelas, PR, at 4:41 am AST on 16 January 2020 (08:41 UTC), 7.0 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1 km SW of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico
12 km (8 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR
- When
- 4:41 am AST on 16 January 2020 ()
- Where
- in Peñuelas, PR · earthquakes near Peñuelas
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Peñuelas Municipio, 2 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2408 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Peñuelas, PR
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Tallaboa Alta 3 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 5 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 6 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 7 km, intensity III · Ponce 12 km, intensity III · Yauco 13 km, intensity III · Adjuntas 13 km, intensity III · Jayuya 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 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 63,000 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 18.0460, -66.7305. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peñuelas Municipio, PR | 2 km (1 mi) | S | earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio |
| Guayanilla Municipio, PR | 8 km (5 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio |
| Ponce Municipio, PR | 14 km (9 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ponce Municipio |
| Yauco Municipio, PR | 14 km (9 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Yauco Municipio |
| Adjuntas Municipio, PR | 15 km (10 mi) | N | earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 23 km (14 mi) | WSW | 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.
- 2.7 3 km S of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
- 3.9 1 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 2 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 17 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 2 km W of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 9 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 7 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 5 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 1.6 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 2 km WSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 2 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 2 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 Puerto Rico region
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.