QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Potala Pastillo, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Potala Pastillo in the 24 hours to 8:05 pm AST (00:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 10:09 am AST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Potala Pastillo

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded in Potala Pastillo, PR, at 12:04 am AST on 5 October 2021 (04:04 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NW of Potala Pastillo, Puerto Rico

12 km (7 mi) E of Ponce, PR

12:04 am AST, Oct 5, 2021 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Potala Pastillo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Juana Díaz Municipio 2 kmPonce Municipio 10 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 14 kmVillalba Municipio 15 kmCoamo Municipio 20 kmPeñuelas Municipio 23 kmJayuya Municipio 25 kmOrocovis Municipio 25 kmSalinas 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
12:04 am AST on 5 October 2021 ()
Where
in Potala Pastillo, PR · earthquakes near Potala Pastillo
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Juana Díaz Municipio, 2 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1864 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 38 km (24 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: Río Cañas Abajo 6 km, intensity III · Santa Isabel 12 km, intensity III · Ponce 12 km, intensity III · Coamo 18 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 21 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 22 km, intensity II · Jayuya 26 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 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 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 110,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 49 km NE 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 18.0021, -66.5103. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) ESE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) W earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) NNE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Peñuelas 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. 2.7 1 km NNE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 3 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 13 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 1 km NW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.4 4 km ESE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.6 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 8 km SSE of Lares, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.1 2 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 7 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 1.7 2 km NW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 14 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.5 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.1 0 km NNW of Magas Arriba, 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.