QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 2:28 pm AST (18:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in La Parguera, PR, at 4:35 am AST on 12 January 2021 (08:35 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 0 km NNW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

45 km (28 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 27 km (17 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

4:35 am AST, Jan 12, 2021 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 1 kmGuánica Municipio 14 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 14 kmSabana Grande Municipio 16 kmHormigueros Municipio 19 kmYauco Municipio 23 kmMaricao Municipio 25 kmGuayanilla Municipio 27 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
4:35 am AST on 12 January 2021 ()
Where
in La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 1 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2025 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. 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: Palmarejo, Lajas, San Germán, Sabana Eneas, Liborio Negron Torres, Monte Grande.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 18,000,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 47 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 40 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 17.9783, -67.0485. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 1 km (1 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros 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. 2.5 5 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  4. 1.7 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 7 km W of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 10 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 1 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.7 5 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 3 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 7 km ESE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.8 2 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 3 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.6 1 km NNE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 8 km S 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.