QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.3ml

63 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded 63 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, at 4:01 am AST on 12 February 2020 (08:01 UTC), 22 km deep. 12 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 22 km deep · released about 43 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 60 kmRincón Municipio 64 kmAguada Municipio 65 kmIsabela Municipio 72 kmMoca Municipio 73 kmAñasco Municipio 76 kmQuebradillas Municipio 80 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 85 kmMayagüez Municipio 86 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 4.3 (ml)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
12 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 60 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2384 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 119 km (74 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 43 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.3 about 43 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 89× 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 350 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.8 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 31 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 44 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km SE 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 18.8121, -67.5983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 60 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 65 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 72 km (44 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 73 km (45 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) SE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 92 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 83 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 86 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 80 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.5 88 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.4 Mona Passage
  8. 3.4 89 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 88 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.4 84 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.0 79 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 83 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.5 98 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.4 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.5 69 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.