Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-northeast of La Parguera, PR, at 12:55 am AST on 5 January 2021 (04:55 UTC), 8.0 km deep.
USGS: 4 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
41 km (25 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 27 km (17 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR
- When
- 12:55 am AST on 5 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-northeast of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 8.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lajas Municipio, 4 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2085 days ago
Earthquake alerts for La Parguera, PR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near La Parguera, PR. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 5 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: Lajas, Liborio Negron Torres, Palmarejo, Fuig, San Germán, Sabana Grande.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 12,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 45 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 43 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 17.9986, -67.0076. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lajas Municipio, PR | 4 km (3 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Lajas Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 11 km (7 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Guánica Municipio |
| Sabana Grande Municipio, PR | 11 km (7 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio |
| San Germán Municipio, PR | 13 km (8 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Germán Municipio |
| Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR | 18 km (11 mi) | W | earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio |
| Yauco Municipio, PR | 19 km (12 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Yauco 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.
- 1.5 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 1.7 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 4 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.0 4 km NE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 6 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 8 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 1.7 5 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
- 1.6 4 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.6 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 1.9 11 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 4 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
- 1.5 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.