QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Barranquitas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Barranquitas in the 24 hours to 5:48 pm AST (21:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 37 km (23 mi) SSW, at 8:40 am AST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Barranquitas

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) south of Barranquitas, PR, at 3:30 am AST on 25 August 2021 (07:30 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 3 km S of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico

38 km (23 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 29 km (18 mi) WSW of Caguas, PR

3:30 am AST, Aug 25, 2021 · · 19 km deep · released about 140 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Barranquitas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aibonito Municipio 5 kmBarranquitas Municipio 5 kmCoamo Municipio 8 kmComerío Municipio 12 kmCidra Municipio 15 kmNaranjito Municipio 16 kmOrocovis Municipio 16 kmCayey Municipio 17 kmCorozal Municipio 17 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
3:30 am AST on 25 August 2021 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) south of Barranquitas, PR · earthquakes near Barranquitas
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aibonito Municipio, 5 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1905 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Barranquitas, 4 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: Coamo 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 140 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 75,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 140 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 5.0 on 2020-01-07 — about 6,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 21 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 39 km N 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 18.1528, -66.3003. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aibonito Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Barranquitas Municipio, PR 5 km (3 mi) N earthquakes near Barranquitas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Comerío Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) NE earthquakes near Comerío Municipio
Cidra Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Cidra Municipio
Naranjito Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near Naranjito Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 9 km NW of Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 2 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 1 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 0 km NNE of Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 3 km S of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 2 km ESE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 2 km ESE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 1.9 5 km ESE of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 4 km SSW of Ponce, 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.