QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Fajardo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Fajardo in the 24 hours to 4:27 pm AST (20:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 53 km (33 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fajardo

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) north of Fajardo, PR, at 1:38 pm AST on 22 November 2020 (17:38 UTC), 33 km deep.

USGS: 41 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico

62 km (39 mi) NE of San Juan, PR · 54 km (34 mi) NE of Carolina, PR

1:38 pm AST, Nov 22, 2020 · · 33 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Fajardo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fajardo Municipio 37 kmLuquillo Municipio 42 kmRío Grande Municipio 45 kmLoíza Municipio 49 kmCeiba Municipio 52 kmCulebra Municipio 52 kmCanóvanas Municipio 54 kmCarolina Municipio 55 kmNaguabo Municipio 59 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
1:38 pm AST on 22 November 2020 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) north of Fajardo, PR · earthquakes near Fajardo
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fajardo Municipio, 37 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2180 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Fajardo, 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 750 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 750 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 4.3 on 2016-09-04 — about 110 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 32 km NNE 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 18.7218, -65.5800. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fajardo Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) S earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) S earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 52 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 22 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.5 81 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.5 76 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 78 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 82 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 75 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 76 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.6 76 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 72 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.4 83 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 86 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.0 72 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 40 km NE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.5 78 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 19 km NNW of Culebra, 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.