QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Capitanejo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Capitanejo in the 24 hours to 4:24 pm AST (20:24 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 35 km (22 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Capitanejo

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east of Capitanejo, PR, at 4:40 pm AST on 6 February 2021 (20:40 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 2 km E of Capitanejo, Puerto Rico

12 km (8 mi) E of Ponce, PR

4:40 pm AST, Feb 6, 2021 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Capitanejo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 3 kmPonce Municipio 10 kmVillalba Municipio 13 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 15 kmCoamo Municipio 19 kmPeñuelas Municipio 23 kmJayuya Municipio 23 kmOrocovis Municipio 24 kmSalinas Municipio 27 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
4:40 pm AST on 6 February 2021 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east of Capitanejo, PR · earthquakes near Capitanejo
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 3 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2105 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Capitanejo, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Río Cañas Abajo 5 km, intensity III · Ponce 12 km, intensity II · Santa Isabel 12 km, intensity II · Coamo 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 1,600,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 48 km NE 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 18.0161, -66.5096. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) SE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) ENE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 1 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.8 Puerto Rico region
  4. 2.5 6 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 1 km NW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 8 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 9 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 6 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.9 7 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.8 6 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 3 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.7 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 6 km WSW of Guánica, 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.