QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

56 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 56 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico, 58 km (36 mi) S of Ponce, PR, at 5:04 am AST on 16 December 2025 (09:04 UTC), 14 km deep.

58 km (36 mi) S of Ponce, PR · 122 km (76 mi) SSW of San Juan, PR

· 14 km deep · released about 360 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 57 kmPonce Municipio 58 kmGuayanilla Municipio 59 kmPeñuelas Municipio 60 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 61 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 61 kmLajas Municipio 66 kmYauco Municipio 69 kmSalinas Municipio 71 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 2.7 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 57 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 331 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 360 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 42,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 30,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 360 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 5.8 on 2020-01-06 — about 42,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 17.4840, -66.6908. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 57 km (36 mi) NNW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 58 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) N earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 60 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Juana Díaz Municipio
Santa Isabel Municipio, PR 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Santa Isabel Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 17 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.3 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 12 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.3 17 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.5 14 km SSE of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.3 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.1 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.1 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.2 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.3 23 km S of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 16 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.6 11 km S of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 16 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 12 km SSE 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.