Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7md
69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 69 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico, 84 km (52 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR, at 6:14 am AST on 6 January 2021 (10:14 UTC), 31 km deep.
84 km (52 mi) NNW of San Juan, PR
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (md)
- Depth
- 31 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Dorado Municipio, 70 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2075 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Brenas, PR
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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 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 360 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 42,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 30,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 360 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 4.8 on 2017-08-18 — about 1,300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 61 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico · 44 km W of this epicentre
- 5.9 78 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico · 28 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 78 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 64 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico · 10 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 106 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 37 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 19.0953, -66.3968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorado Municipio, PR | 70 km (44 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Dorado Municipio |
| Vega Baja Municipio, PR | 71 km (44 mi) | S | earthquakes near Vega Baja Municipio |
| Barceloneta Municipio, PR | 72 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Barceloneta Municipio |
| Manatí Municipio, PR | 73 km (45 mi) | S | earthquakes near Manatí Municipio |
| Vega Alta Municipio, PR | 74 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Vega Alta Municipio |
| Toa Baja Municipio, PR | 74 km (46 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 22 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
- 3.4 85 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 80 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 79 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.6 82 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 77 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 35 km NNW of Brenas, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 57 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 65 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 81 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 71 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.9 68 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 54 km N of Carrizales, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 91 km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 73 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.