QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Los Llanos, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Llanos in the 24 hours to 1:42 am AST (05:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (4 mi) ESE, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Los Llanos

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded in Los Llanos, PR, at 9:52 am AST on 17 March 2020 (13:52 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km S of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico

54 km (34 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 23 km (15 mi) ENE of Ponce, PR

9:52 am AST, Mar 17, 2020 · · 14 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Llanos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Coamo Municipio 9 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 10 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 10 kmVillalba Municipio 12 kmSalinas Municipio 17 kmAibonito Municipio 18 kmOrocovis Municipio 20 kmBarranquitas Municipio 20 kmPonce Municipio 22 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
9:52 am AST on 17 March 2020 ()
Where
in Los Llanos, PR · earthquakes near Los Llanos
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Coamo Municipio, 9 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2430 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 29 km (18 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: Río Cañas Abajo 6 km, intensity III · Coamo 7 km, intensity III · Santa Isabel 8 km, intensity III · Ponce 23 km, intensity II · Cayey 27 km, intensity II · Jayuya 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 700 lb of TNT

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 170,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 38 km NE 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 18.0421, -66.4068. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Coamo Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) WSW earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km ESE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 3 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 1 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 5 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 9 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 2 km ESE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 3 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 9 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 2 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 1 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 1 km W of Indios, 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.