QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Stella, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Stella in the 24 hours to 12:43 am AST (04:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 55 km (34 mi) NNE, at 9:00 pm AST on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stella

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Stella, PR, at 4:42 am AST on 31 January 2021 (08:42 UTC), 120 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico

18 km (11 mi) WNW of Mayagüez, PR · 129 km (80 mi) W of San Juan, PR

4:42 am AST, Jan 31, 2021 · · 120 km deep · released about 1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Stella Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 6 kmAguada Municipio 14 kmAñasco Municipio 16 kmMoca Municipio 24 kmHormigueros Municipio 25 kmAguadilla Municipio 26 kmSan Germán Municipio 33 kmLas Marías Municipio 33 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 34 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
4:42 am AST on 31 January 2021 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southwest of Stella, PR · earthquakes near Stella
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
120 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 6 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2111 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Stella, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Rincón, La Playa, Aguada, Las Marias, Añasco, Luyando.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× more

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 4.9 on 2020-07-03 — about 330 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 18 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 30 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 km NNE 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 18.2898, -67.2835. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) SE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 1 km E of Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 5 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 9 km S of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.5 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.9 3 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.9 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 4 km SSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.5 3 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 1.6 4 km ENE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 32 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 4 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.0 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.0 6 km E of La Parguera, 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.