QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Guayabal, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Guayabal in the 24 hours to 9:34 am AST (13:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (17 mi) SSE, at 7:09 pm AST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Guayabal

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Guayabal, PR, at 11:34 am AST on 20 March 2025 (15:34 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 3 km WNW of Guayabal, Puerto Rico

15 km (9 mi) NE of Ponce, PR

11:34 am AST, Mar 20, 2025 · · 23 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Guayabal Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Villalba Municipio 7 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 12 kmPonce Municipio 13 kmJayuya Municipio 14 kmOrocovis Municipio 17 kmCoamo Municipio 19 kmCiales Municipio 22 kmPeñuelas Municipio 22 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 22 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
11:34 am AST on 20 March 2025 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Guayabal, PR · earthquakes near Guayabal
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Villalba Municipio, 7 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 601 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Guayabal, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Luis Llorens Torres, Villalba, Coto Laurel, Juana Díaz, Aguilita, Capitanejo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 2,800,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNE 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 18.0977, -66.5327. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Villalba Municipio, PR 7 km (5 mi) ENE earthquakes near Villalba Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 13 km (8 mi) SW earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Jayuya Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Jayuya Municipio
Orocovis Municipio, PR 17 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Orocovis Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Coamo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 1 km SW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.4 2 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.0 0 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.4 2 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 2 km NW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.6 29 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.6 2 km S of G. L. Garcia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.3 1 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.4 0 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 1 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.3 1 km SE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 1 km W of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 1 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 1 km SSE of Indios, 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.