QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Guayanilla, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Guayanilla in the 24 hours to 9:48 am AST (13:48 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, in Guayanilla, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Guayanilla

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in Guayanilla, PR, at 7:18 pm AST on 20 July 2021 (23:18 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico

18 km (11 mi) W of Ponce, PR

7:18 pm AST, Jul 20, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Guayanilla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayanilla Municipio 1 kmPeñuelas Municipio 8 kmYauco Municipio 10 kmGuánica Municipio 15 kmSabana Grande Municipio 18 kmAdjuntas Municipio 19 kmPonce Municipio 20 kmMaricao Municipio 23 kmLajas Municipio 26 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
7:18 pm AST on 20 July 2021 ()
Where
in Guayanilla, PR · earthquakes near Guayanilla
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayanilla Municipio, 1 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1940 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 20 km (12 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: Guayanilla in town, intensity II · Magas Arriba 3 km, intensity II · Yauco 6 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 9 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 11 km, intensity II · Ponce 18 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 470,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 18.0113, -66.7975. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 1 km (0 mi) S earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) WSW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NNE earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 3 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 4 km NE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 11 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 7 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 Puerto Rico region
  8. 2.4 1 km WNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  9. 1.6 5 km SSE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.8 2 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.2 1 km ENE of Lluveras, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 2 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 8 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 6 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 6 km WSW of Pole Ojea, 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.