QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Jagual, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Jagual in the 24 hours to 12:56 pm AST (16:56 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 73 km (45 mi) ESE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Jagual

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north of Jagual, PR, at 2:43 am AST on 19 December 2020 (06:43 UTC), 33 km deep.

USGS: 2 km N of Jagual, Puerto Rico

7 km (4 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

2:43 am AST, Dec 19, 2020 · · 33 km deep · released about 98 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jagual Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Lorenzo Municipio 5 kmCaguas Municipio 6 kmGurabo Municipio 10 kmJuncos Municipio 11 kmLas Piedras Municipio 14 kmAguas Buenas Municipio 16 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 17 kmCidra Municipio 17 kmCayey Municipio 18 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
2:43 am AST on 19 December 2020 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north of Jagual, PR · earthquakes near Jagual
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
33 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Lorenzo Municipio, 5 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2155 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Jagual, 3 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: San Lorenzo, Caguas, Gurabo, Bairoa, Juncos, Celada.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 98 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 98 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 4.6 on 2016-12-05 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 17 km WNW 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 18.1846, -65.9990. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Lorenzo Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Lorenzo Municipio
Caguas Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) WNW earthquakes near Caguas Municipio
Gurabo Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Gurabo Municipio
Juncos Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Juncos Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Aguas Buenas Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Aguas Buenas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 14 km SSE of Lamboglia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.5 5 km NW of Los Llanos, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 0 km NE of Mucarabones, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 8 km S of Ciales, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 1 km NW of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 2 km S of Jauca, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 4 km WNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.4 23 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 22 km SE of El Negro, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 24 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 19 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 22 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 5 km E of Orocovis, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 24 km SE of Emajagua, 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.