QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Palomas, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Palomas in the last 24 hours. M 2.1, 3 km (2 mi) SE of Palomas, at 4:14 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (20:14 UTC); the estimated shaking in Palomas was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Palomas

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Palomas, PR, at 12:16 am AST on 15 January 2021 (04:16 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 1 km WNW of Palomas, Puerto Rico

28 km (18 mi) W of Ponce, PR

12:16 am AST, Jan 15, 2021 · · 18 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palomas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yauco Municipio 8 kmGuánica Municipio 9 kmSabana Grande Municipio 9 kmGuayanilla Municipio 10 kmLajas Municipio 17 kmPeñuelas Municipio 17 kmMaricao Municipio 18 kmSan Germán Municipio 18 kmAdjuntas Municipio 23 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
12:16 am AST on 15 January 2021 ()
Where
in Palomas, PR · earthquakes near Palomas
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yauco Municipio, 8 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2005 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: Lluveras, Fuig, Yauco, Maria Antonia, Guánica, Liborio Negron Torres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 10,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 46 km NNW 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 18.0200, -66.8901. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yauco Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Peñuelas 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. 1.9 7 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 3 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 7 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 2 km E of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.7 3 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.5 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 4 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.1 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 11 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 0 km ESE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.9 5 km ESE of Las Marías, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 2 km NNE of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 2 km SSE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 6 km SE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.