QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Palmarejo, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Palmarejo in the last 24 hours. M 2.2, 8 km (5 mi) S of Palmarejo, at 2:59 pm AST on 13 November 2026 (18:59 UTC); the estimated shaking in Palmarejo was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Palmarejo

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south of Palmarejo, PR, at 11:02 pm AST on 21 February 2020 (03:02 UTC), 16 km deep. 13 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2 km S of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico

22 km (14 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR · 115 km (71 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

11:02 pm AST, Feb 21, 2020 · · 16 km deep · released about 1.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Palmarejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 5 kmSan Germán Municipio 11 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 12 kmHormigueros Municipio 14 kmSabana Grande Municipio 15 kmGuánica Municipio 17 kmMaricao Municipio 23 kmYauco Municipio 24 kmLas Marías Municipio 26 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
11:02 pm AST on 21 February 2020 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south of Palmarejo, PR · earthquakes near Palmarejo
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
13 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 5 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2379 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 54 km (34 mi) from the epicentre. In Palmarejo, 3 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 8 km, intensity III · Pole Ojea 13 km, intensity III · Puerto Real 14 km, intensity III · Mayagüez 22 km, intensity II · Yauco 24 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 30 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 32 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 37 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.7 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 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.6× 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 35,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 43 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 36 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 18.0138, -67.0723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 17 km (11 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. 3.5 20 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 19 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 6 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 13 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 10 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 9 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 3 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 9 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 9 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.9 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 15 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.