QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 10:13 am AST (14:13 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 2.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southwest of Ponce, PR, at 4:50 pm AST on 3 May 2020 (20:50 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

9 km (5 mi) SW of Ponce, PR

4:50 pm AST, May 3, 2020 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 9 kmPonce Municipio 10 kmGuayanilla Municipio 13 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 22 kmYauco Municipio 23 kmGuánica Municipio 25 kmAdjuntas Municipio 27 kmVillalba Municipio 30 kmJayuya Municipio 31 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
4:50 pm AST on 3 May 2020 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 9 km NNW
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 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 9 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: Tallaboa 6 km, intensity III · Ponce 9 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 11 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 11 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 13 km, intensity III · Yauco 19 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 24 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 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 780 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 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 150,000 times the energy of this one.

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 17.9518, -66.6890. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 22 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) W 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. 2.7 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 4 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.6 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 1 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 1 km SE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.2 2 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 5 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 2 km ESE of Yauco, 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.