QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Lluveras, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Lluveras in the last 24 hours. M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) SE of Lluveras, at 4:14 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (20:14 UTC); the estimated shaking in Lluveras was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Lluveras

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Lluveras, PR, at 11:31 pm AST on 20 January 2021 (03:31 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 1 km W of Lluveras, Puerto Rico

31 km (19 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 30 km (19 mi) SE of Mayagüez, PR

11:31 pm AST, Jan 20, 2021 · · 21 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sabana Grande Municipio 6 kmYauco Municipio 8 kmGuánica Municipio 10 kmGuayanilla Municipio 13 kmLajas Municipio 15 kmSan Germán Municipio 15 kmMaricao Municipio 15 kmPeñuelas Municipio 20 kmLas Marías Municipio 22 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
11:31 pm AST on 20 January 2021 ()
Where
in Lluveras, PR · earthquakes near Lluveras
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sabana Grande Municipio, 6 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1854 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: Liborio Negron Torres, Palomas, Fuig, Sabana Grande, Yauco, Maria Antonia.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 15,000,000 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 · 43 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 18.0393, -66.9150. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) NE earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) WSW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Germán 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. 1.6 2 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.8 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 5 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 2 km ESE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.5 6 km W of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 3 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.5 18 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 0 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.5 4 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 0 km E of Magas Arriba, 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.