QuakeIndex

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 7 km (4 mi) southwest of La Parguera, PR, at 11:59 am AST on 9 January 2021 (15:59 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

31 km (19 mi) S of Mayagüez, PR · 121 km (75 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

11:59 am AST, Jan 9, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 8 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 12 kmGuánica Municipio 18 kmSan Germán Municipio 21 kmHormigueros Municipio 23 kmSabana Grande Municipio 23 kmYauco Municipio 30 kmMaricao Municipio 32 kmGuayanilla Municipio 32 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
11:59 am AST on 9 January 2021 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) southwest of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 8 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2045 days ago

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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 7 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: Pole Ojea, Palmarejo, Boquerón, Lajas, Sabana Eneas, San Germán.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 40 km NW 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 17.9306, -67.0910. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande 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. 1.8 4 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.7 4 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 1 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 3 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.6 6 km SSE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 2 km SE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.7 1 km N of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 7 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 5 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.1 3 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 0 km WNW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.5 5 km WSW of Guánica, 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.