QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Parcelas Peñuelas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Parcelas Peñuelas in the 24 hours to 9:34 am AST (13:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 3 km (2 mi) NNW, at 5:05 pm AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Parcelas Peñuelas

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in Parcelas Peñuelas, PR, at 2:59 am AST on 23 May 2025 (06:59 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 1 km W of Parcelas Peñuelas, Puerto Rico

55 km (34 mi) SW of San Juan, PR · 28 km (18 mi) E of Ponce, PR

2:59 am AST, May 23, 2025 · · 13 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Isabel Municipio 6 kmSalinas Municipio 10 kmCoamo Municipio 12 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 14 kmAibonito Municipio 18 kmVillalba Municipio 19 kmBarranquitas Municipio 23 kmGuayama Municipio 23 kmCayey Municipio 25 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
2:59 am AST on 23 May 2025 ()
Where
in Parcelas Peñuelas, PR · earthquakes near Parcelas Peñuelas
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Isabel Municipio, 6 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 537 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 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: Santa Isabel 6 km, intensity II · Coamo 9 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 55,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 39,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 440,000 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 · 37 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 17.9968, -66.3553. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 6 km (4 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio
Salinas Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Salinas Municipio
Coamo Municipio, PR 12 km (7 mi) N earthquakes near Coamo Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Aibonito Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) NNE earthquakes near Aibonito Municipio
Villalba Municipio, PR 19 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Villalba Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 11 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.5 11 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.0 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 5 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.3 13 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.5 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 12 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 13 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 3 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 1 km WSW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 2 km SSW 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.