QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Vega Baja, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Vega Baja in the 24 hours to 9:43 pm AST (01:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 81 km (51 mi) SW, at 9:19 am AST on 18 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 86 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vega Baja

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded in Vega Baja, PR, at 7:57 pm AST on 5 January 2021 (23:57 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 1 km WNW of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico

36 km (22 mi) W of San Juan, PR · 27 km (17 mi) WNW of Bayamón, PR

7:57 pm AST, Jan 5, 2021 · · 24 km deep · released about 47 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Vega Baja Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vega Baja Municipio 1 kmVega Alta Municipio 7 kmManatí Municipio 10 kmDorado Municipio 15 kmMorovis Municipio 15 kmBarceloneta Municipio 16 kmCorozal Municipio 19 kmFlorida Municipio 19 kmToa Alta Municipio 19 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
7:57 pm AST on 5 January 2021 ()
Where
in Vega Baja, PR · earthquakes near Vega Baja
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vega Baja Municipio, 1 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2079 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. 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: Coto Norte, Sabana, Monserrate, Ceiba, Brenas, Miranda.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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 2018-12-09 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 12 km N of Garrochales, Puerto Rico · 21 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 36 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 8 km NE 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 18.4538, -66.4030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vega Baja Municipio, PR 1 km (0 mi) ENE earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio
Vega Alta Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) ESE earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio
Manatí Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Manatí Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Morovis Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Morovis Municipio
Barceloneta Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 2 km E of Vázquez, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 33 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.5 4 km N of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 6 km SSE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 13 km NNE of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.0 5 km NNE of Carrizales, 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.