QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 6:52 pm AST (22:52 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 6:06 am AST on 30 May 2020 (10:06 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

12 km (8 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR

6:06 am AST, May 30, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 7 kmGuayanilla Municipio 8 kmPonce Municipio 14 kmYauco Municipio 18 kmGuánica Municipio 20 kmAdjuntas Municipio 24 kmSabana Grande Municipio 26 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 26 kmMaricao 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
6:06 am AST on 30 May 2020 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 7 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2356 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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 4 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 7 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 8 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 10 km, intensity II · Ponce 13 km, intensity II · Yauco 14 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 260,000 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 17.9668, -66.7363. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 7 km (4 mi) N earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) W earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Adjuntas 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. 3.0 6 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 6 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.4 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 1 km NW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.2 7 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 2 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 1 km NE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 3 km ESE of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 1 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.4 2 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 4.1 1 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 5 km WSW of Fuig, 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.