Earthquake near Fuig, PR

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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Fuig, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: San Germán 15 km, intensity III · Yauco 15 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 20 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 22 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 22 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 25 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 28 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 240,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,700× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 86,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW of this epicentre May 16, 2010
2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 17, 2011
3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 48 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 17, 2011

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 17.9672, -66.9747. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.0 5 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico 13:14 UTC
2. 2.5 1 km W of Guánica, Puerto Rico 09:51 UTC
3. 2.2 19 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico 08:29 UTC
4. 1.8 4 km SSW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico 07:58 UTC
5. 1.9 4 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico 07:04 UTC
6. 2.4 6 km WSW of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 05:10 UTC
7. 2.2 Puerto Rico region 01:58 UTC
8. 1.9 Puerto Rico region 00:50 UTC
9. 1.9 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 20:16 UTC
10. 1.9 4 km SE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 20:03 UTC
11. 2.1 7 km WSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 19:29 UTC
12. 2.0 1 km SW of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico 08:09 UTC
13. 2.1 6 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico 07:53 UTC
14. 2.2 Puerto Rico region 06:33 UTC
15. 2.3 2 km NW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico 05:17 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:24 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

• The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
• Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
• ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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