QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4md

Earthquake near Esperanza, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Esperanza in the 24 hours to 4:22 pm AST (20:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 23 km (14 mi) SE, at 12:08 pm AST on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Esperanza

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south of Esperanza, PR, at 5:50 am AST on 16 December 2020 (09:50 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 14 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico

78 km (48 mi) SE of San Juan, PR

5:50 am AST, Dec 16, 2020 · · 19 km deep · released about 2.2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Esperanza Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 19 kmCeiba Municipio 35 kmHumacao Municipio 36 kmNaguabo Municipio 37 kmYabucoa Municipio 40 kmMaunabo Municipio 43 kmCulebra Municipio 45 kmLas Piedras Municipio 47 kmFajardo Municipio 48 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
5:50 am AST on 16 December 2020 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) south of Esperanza, PR · earthquakes near Esperanza
Magnitude
M 3.4 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 19 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2083 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 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Esperanza, 15 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: Esperanza 15 km, intensity III · Isabel Segunda 21 km, intensity II · Aguas Claras 36 km, intensity II · Humacao 41 km, intensity II · Emajagua 41 km, intensity II · Culebra 43 km, intensity II · Fajardo 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 78,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.6× 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 55 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.9666, -65.4926. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 35 km (22 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) NW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) W earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 4 km SSW of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 25 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 1 km ESE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 13 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 4.8 13 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 2 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.7 23 km ESE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 11 km S of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 27 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 29 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 36 km W of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.0 19 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 23 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 11 km W of Esperanza, 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.