QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 11:29 am AST (15:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR, at 3:15 pm AST on 5 October 2020 (19:15 UTC), 67 km deep.

USGS: 49 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

56 km (35 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 111 km (69 mi) W of Ponce, PR

3:15 pm AST, Oct 5, 2020 · · 67 km deep · released about 1.6 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 24 kmRincón Municipio 50 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 53 kmHormigueros Municipio 58 kmAguada Municipio 58 kmAñasco Municipio 59 kmSan Germán Municipio 66 kmLajas Municipio 68 kmAguadilla Municipio 68 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
3:15 pm AST on 5 October 2020 ()
Where
49 km (31 mi) west-southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
67 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 24 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2160 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 Stella, 49 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 1.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,300× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.3× 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 38 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 32 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 31 km E 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 18.1205, -67.6640. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) W earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 53 km (33 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 5 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 10 km W of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 51 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.9 5 km NNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 69 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 65 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.4 30 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 64 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.5 6 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 53 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 24 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 54 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 29 km SW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.5 50 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.6 75 km W of Puerto Real, 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.