QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Capitanejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Capitanejo in the 24 hours to 8:08 am AST (12:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Capitanejo

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Capitanejo, PR, at 5:56 am AST on 11 June 2020 (09:56 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 10 km SSW of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico

10 km (6 mi) SSE of Ponce, PR

5:56 am AST, Jun 11, 2020 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ponce Municipio 9 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 12 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 20 kmPeñuelas Municipio 20 kmVillalba Municipio 25 kmGuayanilla Municipio 25 kmCoamo Municipio 30 kmJayuya Municipio 32 kmSalinas Municipio 33 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
5:56 am AST on 11 June 2020 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Capitanejo, PR · earthquakes near Capitanejo
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
5.0 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 2345 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Capitanejo, 11 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: Ponce 11 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 17 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 17 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 18 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 600,000 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 17.9250, -66.5730. 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 12 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Guayanilla 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. 2.6 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 6 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 1 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 5 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.0 7 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 5 km S of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 7 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 3 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.6 5 km SW of Guánica, 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.