QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Mayagüez, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Mayagüez in the 24 hours to 8:36 pm AST (00:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 25 km (15 mi) SSE, at 3:17 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mayagüez

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded in Mayagüez, PR, at 8:53 am AST on 15 February 2021 (12:53 UTC), 18 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km ENE of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

in Mayagüez, PR · 114 km (71 mi) W of San Juan, PR

8:53 am AST, Feb 15, 2021 · · 18 km deep · released about 830 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mayagüez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hormigueros Municipio 8 kmAñasco Municipio 9 kmSan Germán Municipio 14 kmLas Marías Municipio 16 kmMoca Municipio 20 kmRincón Municipio 20 kmAguada Municipio 20 kmMaricao Municipio 20 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 22 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
8:53 am AST on 15 February 2021 ()
Where
in Mayagüez, PR · earthquakes near Mayagüez
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Hormigueros Municipio, 8 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2095 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 30 km (19 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.

Likely felt in: Mayagüez in town, intensity II · Puerto Real 16 km, intensity II · San Germán 16 km, intensity II · Rincón 20 km, intensity II · San Sebastián 20 km, intensity II · Aguada 21 km, intensity II · Aguadilla 25 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 830 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 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 140,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 18 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 48 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 22 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 26 km W 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 18.2045, -67.1235. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) S earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) SE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Las Marías Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Las Marías Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Rincón 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. 1.8 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 8 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 4 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 6 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 5 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 2 km SSE of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 3 km S of Tallaboa Alta, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 1 km S of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 7 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 11 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 5 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 4 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 0 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.2 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, 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.