QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Pole Ojea, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Pole Ojea in the 24 hours to 3:22 pm AST (19:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) ENE, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Pole Ojea

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west of Pole Ojea, PR, at 3:45 pm AST on 15 September 2021 (19:45 UTC), 1.0 km deep.

USGS: 20 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico

36 km (22 mi) SW of Mayagüez, PR · 147 km (92 mi) WSW of San Juan, PR

3:45 pm AST, Sep 15, 2021 · · 1.0 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pole Ojea Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cabo Rojo Municipio 21 kmHormigueros Municipio 33 kmLajas Municipio 36 kmSan Germán Municipio 39 kmRincón Municipio 43 kmAñasco Municipio 44 kmSabana Grande Municipio 48 kmGuánica Municipio 49 kmAguada Municipio 49 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
3:45 pm AST on 15 September 2021 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) west of Pole Ojea, PR · earthquakes near Pole Ojea
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cabo Rojo Municipio, 21 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1883 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Pole Ojea, 21 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: Pole Ojea 21 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 23 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 5.3 on 2020-07-03 — about 5,800 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 24 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 22 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 17.9746, -67.3826. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 36 km (23 mi) E earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 39 km (24 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 43 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) NE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 6 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 6 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 7 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 5 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  5. 1.9 9 km S of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 4 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 7 km ESE of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 6 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 7 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 6 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.6 6 km WSW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 6 km W of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  14. 1.8 5 km WSW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 7 km ESE 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.