QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.2md

Puerto Rico region

· 23 km deep · released about 26 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 80 kmFajardo Municipio 88 kmLuquillo Municipio 98 kmCeiba Municipio 102 kmRío Grande Municipio 104 kmVieques Municipio 106 kmLoíza Municipio 111 kmNaguabo Municipio 113 kmCanóvanas Municipio 114 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
Magnitude
M 4.2 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
10 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 80 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1287 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 290× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 26 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 55× 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.

Where

Epicentre 19.0126, -65.0768. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Culebra Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 88 km (55 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 102 km (63 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 104 km (65 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 106 km (66 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Vieques Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.8 67 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.2 32 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.7 61 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.5 33 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.8 Puerto Rico region
  6. 3.7 Puerto Rico region
  7. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  8. 3.1 43 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 49 km NE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  11. 3.5 Puerto Rico region
  12. 3.6 Puerto Rico region
  13. 3.4 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  15. 2.9 59 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.0 on 2021-02-06 — it released about 18 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.