QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Culebra, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Culebra in the last 24 hours. M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) ENE of Culebra, at 6:51 am AST on 11 November 2026 (10:51 UTC); the estimated shaking in Culebra was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Culebra

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) north-northwest of Culebra, PR, at 4:24 am AST on 21 January 2021 (08:24 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 19 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico

76 km (47 mi) E of San Juan, PR

4:24 am AST, Jan 21, 2021 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Culebra Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 17 kmFajardo Municipio 27 kmCeiba Municipio 38 kmVieques Municipio 40 kmLuquillo Municipio 40 kmRío Grande Municipio 49 kmNaguabo Municipio 50 kmCanóvanas Municipio 59 kmHumacao Municipio 60 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
4:24 am AST on 21 January 2021 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) north-northwest of Culebra, PR · earthquakes near Culebra
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 17 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1845 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Culebra, 20 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.

Likely felt in: Culebra 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 4.2 on 2019-07-28 — about 230 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.4741, -65.3480. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 38 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 40 km (25 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) WSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

37 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.4 50 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.5 25 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 67 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.2 43 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.0 38 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 63 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 8 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 7 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 30 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 4.0 66 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 28 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 1 km SSW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.7 25 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 44 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.6 19 km WSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.