Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5md
Puerto Rico region
Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, at 10:28 pm AST on 20 March 2020 (02:28 UTC), 10 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Cabo Rojo Municipio, 56 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2350 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pole Ojea, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pole Ojea, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 65 km (40 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 3.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 53,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 3.2 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.7× 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.
Where
Epicentre 17.6061, -67.5136. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR | 56 km (35 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio |
| Lajas Municipio, PR | 65 km (40 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lajas Municipio |
| Mayagüez Municipio, PR | 66 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio |
| Hormigueros Municipio, PR | 72 km (45 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 73 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Guánica Municipio |
| San Germán Municipio, PR | 75 km (47 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Germán Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.