QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 2:41 pm AST (18:41 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of La Parguera, PR, at 10:45 am AST on 23 January 2021 (14:45 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 11 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

41 km (26 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR · 38 km (24 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

10:45 am AST, Jan 23, 2021 · · 10 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 10 kmLajas Municipio 11 kmSabana Grande Municipio 22 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 23 kmGuayanilla Municipio 24 kmSan Germán Municipio 25 kmYauco Municipio 26 kmHormigueros Municipio 30 kmPeñuelas 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
10:45 am AST on 23 January 2021 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 10 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1804 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In La Parguera, 11 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: San Germán 22 km, intensity II · Yauco 22 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 22 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 420,000 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 17.8888, -66.9938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 22 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) N 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. 2.5 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 1 km SSW of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.6 4 km NE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 1 km WSW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.0 3 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 4 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 5 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 6 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.4 4 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 0 km S of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  13. 1.7 6 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 5 km SSW of Liborio Negron Torres, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.7 5 km WSW of Fuig, 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.