QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 8:33 pm AST (00:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south of Ponce, PR, at 2:25 pm AST on 22 January 2020 (18:25 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 11 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico

11 km (7 mi) S of Ponce, PR

2:25 pm AST, Jan 22, 2020 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 2.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 11 kmPeñuelas Municipio 16 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 19 kmGuayanilla Municipio 20 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 27 kmGuánica Municipio 30 kmYauco Municipio 31 kmVillalba Municipio 31 kmAdjuntas Municipio 33 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
2:25 pm AST on 22 January 2020 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) south of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ponce Municipio, 11 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2405 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 59 km (37 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 12 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: Ponce 12 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 13 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 17 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 18 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 20 km, intensity III · Río Cañas Abajo 24 km, intensity III · Santa Isabel 26 km, intensity II · Yauco 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.4× 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 29,000 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 17.9045, -66.6411. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ponce Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) ENE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) W 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. 2.8 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.6 11 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 1 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 7 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 10 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 1 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 1 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 1 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 3 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 2 km E of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 3 km SE 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.