QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Puerto Rico region

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded in the Puerto Rico region, at 12:15 am AST on 13 February 2021 (04:15 UTC), 34 km deep.

· 34 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
34 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Isabela Municipio, 141 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2098 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2016-10-23 — about 110 times the energy of this one.

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 19.5536, -66.2996. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Isabela Municipio, PR 141 km (87 mi) SSW earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 149 km (92 mi) SW earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 80 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.7 103 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 115 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 100 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.9 78 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.5 121 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.6 94 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.4 121 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 88 km N of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.7 107 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 72 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 72 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 80 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.6 121 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 80 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, 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.