QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 5:33 pm AST (21:33 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 21 km (13 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 8:45 pm AST on 8 June 2020 (00:45 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

20 km (13 mi) W of Ponce, PR

8:45 pm AST, Jun 8, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayanilla Municipio 4 kmPeñuelas Municipio 11 kmGuánica Municipio 12 kmYauco Municipio 14 kmSabana Grande Municipio 19 kmPonce Municipio 22 kmLajas Municipio 24 kmAdjuntas Municipio 24 kmMaricao Municipio 26 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
8:45 pm AST on 8 June 2020 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayanilla Municipio, 4 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2276 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, 21 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: Guayanilla 6 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 7 km, intensity III · Yauco 8 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 11 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 15 km, intensity II · Ponce 21 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 24 km, intensity II · San Germán 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 800 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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 800 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 17.9691, -66.8133. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 4 km (3 mi) NNE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Ponce 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. 3.2 6 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 6 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 9 km SSW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 13 km N of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 17 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 10 km SSW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 7 km SSE of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 7 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.7 2 km E of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 9 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 11 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 13 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 7 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 11 km SSE of Ponce, 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.