QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 13 km (8 mi) ESE of La Parguera, at 3:43 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (19:43 UTC); the estimated shaking in La Parguera was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south of La Parguera, PR, at 10:20 am AST on 2 December 2020 (14:20 UTC), 32 km deep.

USGS: 11 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

46 km (28 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR · 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

10:20 am AST, Dec 2, 2020 · · 32 km deep · released about 210 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 12 kmGuánica Municipio 15 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 21 kmSabana Grande Municipio 26 kmSan Germán Municipio 26 kmGuayanilla Municipio 29 kmYauco Municipio 30 kmHormigueros Municipio 31 kmMaricao Municipio 35 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
10:20 am AST on 2 December 2020 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) south of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
32 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 12 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2170 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 La Parguera, 12 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Guánica, Fuig, Palmarejo, Maria Antonia, Pole Ojea, Lajas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 210 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 72,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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 580,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 49 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 17.8696, -67.0345. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 6 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 4 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 8 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 1 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  10. 2.4 11 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 3 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 3 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 4 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 3 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 3 km S 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.