QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 2:47 pm AST (18:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) south-southwest of La Parguera, PR, at 12:17 pm AST on 19 November 2020 (16:17 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 2 km SSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

46 km (28 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 29 km (18 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

12:17 pm AST, Nov 19, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 3 kmGuánica Municipio 14 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 17 kmSabana Grande Municipio 18 kmHormigueros Municipio 21 kmYauco Municipio 25 kmMaricao Municipio 27 kmGuayanilla 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
12:17 pm AST on 19 November 2020 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) south-southwest of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 3 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2183 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 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 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: San Germán 14 km, intensity III · Pole Ojea 14 km, intensity III · Puerto Real 19 km, intensity II · Yauco 23 km, intensity II · Mayagüez 28 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 29 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 920 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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 130,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 42 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km NW 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 17.9583, -67.0548. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros 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.

  1. 2.3 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 1 km NE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.2 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.8 7 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 5 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 1 km SSW of Tallaboa Alta, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.8 2 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 1 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 2 km S of Tallaboa Alta, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 1 km WNW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.1 0 km SW of Guánica, 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.