QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

Earthquake near Potala Pastillo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Potala Pastillo in the 24 hours to 12:15 am AST (04:15 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 10:09 am AST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Potala Pastillo

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) southwest of Potala Pastillo, PR, at 3:42 am AST on 24 July 2020 (07:42 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico

12 km (8 mi) ESE of Ponce, PR

3:42 am AST, Jul 24, 2020 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Potala Pastillo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 3 kmPonce Municipio 10 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 13 kmVillalba Municipio 18 kmCoamo Municipio 21 kmPeñuelas Municipio 24 kmSalinas Municipio 26 kmJayuya Municipio 27 kmOrocovis Municipio 28 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
3:42 am AST on 24 July 2020 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) southwest of Potala Pastillo, PR · earthquakes near Potala Pastillo
Magnitude
M 3.1 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 3 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2289 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 43 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Potala Pastillo, 2 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: Río Cañas Abajo 8 km, intensity III · Santa Isabel 11 km, intensity III · Ponce 13 km, intensity III · Coamo 20 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 22 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 22 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 28 km, intensity II · Jayuya 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,500 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 6.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× 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 78,000 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 17.9770, -66.5110. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 10 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) WNW earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 3 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 3 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 2 km NNE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 9 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 5 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 3 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 1 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 4 km WSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 0 km NNE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 0 km S of Indios, 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.