Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0md
Earthquake near Magas Arriba, PR
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Magas Arriba in the last 24 hours. M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WSW of Magas Arriba, at 4:14 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (20:14 UTC); the estimated shaking in Magas Arriba was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Magas Arriba
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southeast of Magas Arriba, PR, at 1:19 am AST on 16 September 2020 (05:19 UTC), 13 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km SE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
14 km (8 mi) W of Ponce, PR
- When
- 1:19 am AST on 16 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) southeast of Magas Arriba, PR · earthquakes near Magas Arriba
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Peñuelas Municipio, 4 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2174 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Magas Arriba, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Magas Arriba, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Magas Arriba, 3 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: Magas Arriba 3 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 4 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 5 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 8 km, intensity III · Yauco 11 km, intensity III · Ponce 14 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 19 km, intensity II · Jayuya 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,100 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 110,000 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 17.9935, -66.7518. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peñuelas Municipio, PR | 4 km (3 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio |
| Guayanilla Municipio, PR | 5 km (3 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio |
| Yauco Municipio, PR | 15 km (9 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yauco Municipio |
| Ponce Municipio, PR | 15 km (10 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ponce Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 19 km (12 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Guánica Municipio |
| Adjuntas Municipio, PR | 21 km (13 mi) | N | earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 5 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 1 km S of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 3 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 3 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 10 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 10 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 5 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 4 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 7 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.2 2 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 4 km SSW 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.