QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico, at 12:40 am AST on 31 January 2020 (04:40 UTC), 10 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 10 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 87 kmAguada Municipio 94 kmRincón Municipio 94 kmIsabela Municipio 96 kmMoca Municipio 100 kmQuebradillas Municipio 103 kmAñasco Municipio 106 kmCamuy Municipio 110 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 111 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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 87 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2398 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 43 km (27 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 8 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 80 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 26 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 93 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 67 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 41 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 88 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km ENE 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 19.1006, -67.6470. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 94 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 94 km (59 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 96 km (59 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 100 km (62 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 103 km (64 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 86 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.3 82 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 91 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.5 72 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.7 73 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 66 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 80 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 81 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 71 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.1 82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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.