QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 4:26 pm AST (20:26 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 3.3 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Stella, PR, at 4:49 pm AST on 15 November 2020 (20:49 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 24 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico

27 km (17 mi) W of Mayagüez, PR · 143 km (89 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:49 pm AST, Nov 15, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 1.4 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 25 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 29 kmHormigueros Municipio 30 kmAñasco Municipio 31 kmAguada Municipio 33 kmSan Germán Municipio 38 kmMoca Municipio 41 kmLajas Municipio 43 kmAguadilla Municipio 44 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
4:49 pm AST on 15 November 2020 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 3.3 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 25 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2114 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 52 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Stella, 24 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: Puerto Real 24 km, intensity II · Rincón 25 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 27 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 30 km, intensity II · Aguada 33 km, intensity II · San Germán 38 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 39 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.4 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 6.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.9× 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 5.2 on 2020-01-15 — about 680 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 44 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 4 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 3 km ENE 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 18.1605, -67.3958. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) NE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 33 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) E earthquakes near San Germán Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.5 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 5 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 23.8 km ESE of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 23.2 km NE of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.2 22 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.6 24 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km SSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 7 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.7 6 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 1.9 km WNW of San Germán, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.6 5 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 3 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 6 km SW of La Parguera, 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.