QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

69 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 69 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico, at 8:37 pm AST on 2 January 2021 (00:37 UTC), 67 km deep.

· 67 km deep · released about 610 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 3 kmRincón Municipio 70 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 72 kmAguada Municipio 78 kmHormigueros Municipio 79 kmAñasco Municipio 80 kmSan Germán Municipio 87 kmAguadilla Municipio 87 kmLajas Municipio 88 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
67 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 3 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2096 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. 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 610 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 25,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 610 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 4.4 on 2020-11-04 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 46 km N 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 18.0875, -67.8598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) W earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 70 km (44 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 78 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 48 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.0 79 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.8 45 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.7 38 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.3 47 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.5 67 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.7 49 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.2 59 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.4 Dominican Republic region
  10. 3.2 38 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 31 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 64 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.5 52 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.7 35 km W of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 72 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic

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.