QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

Earthquake near Aguadilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Aguadilla in the 24 hours to 9:54 pm AST (01:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 12:03 am AST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Aguadilla

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR, at 3:16 am AST on 21 February 2021 (07:16 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 41 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

60 km (37 mi) NW of Mayagüez, PR · 118 km (73 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

3:16 am AST, Feb 21, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Aguadilla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rincón Municipio 42 kmAguada Municipio 46 kmAguadilla Municipio 47 kmAñasco Municipio 55 kmMoca Municipio 56 kmIsabela Municipio 60 kmMayagüez Municipio 61 kmHormigueros Municipio 67 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 69 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
3:16 am AST on 21 February 2021 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Aguadilla, PR · earthquakes near Aguadilla
Magnitude
M 3.2 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 42 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2090 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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguadilla, 47 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: Rincón 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb 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 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 4.6 on 2020-01-29 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.1 24 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 45 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 32 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 22 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 6 km WNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 58 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 30 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 15 km WNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico · 37 km E 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 18.5446, -67.5796. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 47 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 55 km (34 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 56 km (35 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 57 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.6 22 km WNW of Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.5 51 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.5 46 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.4 70 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.0 25 km NNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.4 34 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 44 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 45 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.9 56 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 72 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 76 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 14 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 Mona Passage
  15. 3.0 18 km WNW of Rincón, 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.