Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0md
Earthquake near Ponce, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 6:16 pm AST (22:16 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Ponce, PR, at 3:09 pm AST on 30 April 2020 (19:09 UTC), 6.0 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
in Ponce, PR
- When
- 3:09 pm AST on 30 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (md)
- Depth
- 6.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ponce Municipio, 4 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2386 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ponce, PR
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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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 5 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: Ponce 5 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 11 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 13 km, intensity III · Río Cañas Abajo 17 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 17 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 20 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 22 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 130,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 17.9671, -66.6130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ponce Municipio, PR | 4 km (2 mi) | N | earthquakes near Ponce Municipio |
| Juana Díaz Municipio, PR | 13 km (8 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio |
| Peñuelas Municipio, PR | 14 km (9 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio |
| Guayanilla Municipio, PR | 20 km (12 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio |
| Villalba Municipio, PR | 24 km (15 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Villalba Municipio |
| Santa Isabel Municipio, PR | 24 km (15 mi) | E | earthquakes near Santa Isabel 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.
- 2.5 2 km SE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 4 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 5 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 4 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 6 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 6 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 3 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 4 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 7 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 2 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 3 km S of Tallaboa, 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
- 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.