QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Arecibo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Arecibo in the 24 hours to 9:52 pm AST (01:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 49 km (31 mi) NW, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Arecibo

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) north of Arecibo, PR, at 1:35 pm AST on 7 September 2020 (17:35 UTC), 53 km deep.

USGS: 44 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico

82 km (51 mi) NW of San Juan, PR · 47 km (29 mi) N of Arecibo, PR

1:35 pm AST, Sep 7, 2020 · · 53 km deep · released about 1.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Arecibo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Barceloneta Municipio 46 kmArecibo Municipio 48 kmHatillo Municipio 50 kmManatí Municipio 50 kmCamuy Municipio 52 kmQuebradillas Municipio 53 kmVega Baja Municipio 54 kmIsabela Municipio 57 kmFlorida Municipio 57 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
1:35 pm AST on 7 September 2020 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) north of Arecibo, PR · earthquakes near Arecibo
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
53 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Barceloneta Municipio, 46 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2185 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Arecibo, 45 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.2× 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 230 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.7 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 25 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 81 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 34 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 36 km SSE of this epicentre

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 18.8696, -66.6626. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) SSE earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio
Arecibo Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) S earthquakes near Arecibo Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) SSW earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 28 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 41 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 29 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 49 km NNE of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 21 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 13 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.8 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.8 39 km N of Isabela, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 7 km NNE of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 66 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 19 km N of Camuy, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 13 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 5 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 69 km N of Arecibo, 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.