QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near La Parguera, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in La Parguera in the 24 hours to 2:46 pm AST (18:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 11:57 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Parguera

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded in La Parguera, PR, at 3:43 am AST on 20 March 2024 (07:43 UTC), 6.7 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico

46 km (29 mi) W of Ponce, PR · 27 km (17 mi) SSE of Mayagüez, PR

3:43 am AST, Mar 20, 2024 · · 6.7 km deep · released about 140 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Parguera Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lajas Municipio 2 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 13 kmGuánica Municipio 14 kmSan Germán Municipio 16 kmSabana Grande Municipio 17 kmHormigueros Municipio 20 kmYauco Municipio 25 kmMaricao Municipio 26 kmGuayanilla Municipio 28 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
3:43 am AST on 20 March 2024 ()
Where
in La Parguera, PR · earthquakes near La Parguera
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
6.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lajas Municipio, 2 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 966 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 21 km (13 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: San Germán 13 km, intensity II · Pole Ojea 14 km, intensity II · Puerto Real 18 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 3.4 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 78,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 870,000 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 · 48 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 19 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 21 km SW of Stella, Puerto Rico · 40 km NW 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 17.9682, -67.0570. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lajas Municipio, PR 2 km (1 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lajas Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) E earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
San Germán Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near San Germán Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 17 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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. 2.1 12 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.0 1 km W of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.6 4 km E of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 15 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 2 km NNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 6 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 3 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 1 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.2 6 km SW of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.0 2 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.1 8 km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 2 km SSW of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 3 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 8 km SSW of Guánica, 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.