QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 6:53 pm AST (22:53 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Ponce, PR, at 4:45 am AST on 29 May 2020 (08:45 UTC), 4.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico

9 km (6 mi) SSE of Ponce, PR

4:45 am AST, May 29, 2020 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 9 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 13 kmPeñuelas Municipio 19 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 21 kmGuayanilla Municipio 24 kmVillalba Municipio 26 kmCoamo Municipio 32 kmJayuya Municipio 32 kmYauco Municipio 34 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
4:45 am AST on 29 May 2020 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ponce Municipio, 9 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2358 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 11 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 11 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 16 km, intensity III · Río Cañas Abajo 18 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 19 km, intensity III · Santa Isabel 20 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 22 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 24 km, intensity II · Coamo 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 99,000 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 17.9226, -66.5866. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ponce Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 5 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 2 km ESE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 4 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 8 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 9 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 16 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 5 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 2 km S of Magas Arriba, 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.