QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near El Negro, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in El Negro in the last 24 hours. M 2.9, 24 km (15 mi) SSE of El Negro, at 5:20 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (21:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in El Negro was intensity II (weak). 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. Every earthquake near El Negro

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of El Negro, PR, at 8:43 pm AST on 20 August 2026 (00:43 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 10 km E of El Negro, Puerto Rico

51 km (32 mi) SE of San Juan, PR · 36 km (23 mi) SE of Caguas, PR

8:43 pm AST, Aug 20, 2026 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Negro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humacao Municipio 10 kmYabucoa Municipio 11 kmMaunabo Municipio 16 kmNaguabo Municipio 18 kmLas Piedras Municipio 20 kmPatillas Municipio 25 kmJuncos Municipio 25 kmSan Lorenzo Municipio 26 kmCeiba Municipio 27 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
8:43 pm AST on 20 August 2026 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east of El Negro, PR · earthquakes near El Negro
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humacao Municipio, 10 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 83 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In El Negro, 10 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.

Likely felt in: Humacao 14 km, intensity II · Emajagua 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 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 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 4.8 on 2021-10-08 — about 12,000 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 · 46 km WNW 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 18.0478, -65.7563. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humacao Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humacao Municipio
Yabucoa Municipio, PR 11 km (7 mi) W earthquakes near Yabucoa Municipio
Maunabo Municipio, PR 16 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Maunabo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) N earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Las Piedras Municipio, PR 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Las Piedras Municipio
Patillas Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) WSW earthquakes near Patillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 22 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 7 km ESE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 22 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 10 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.4 16 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 4.1 21 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.2 27 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.0 26 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 4 km NNE of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 12 km SE of Emajagua, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 16 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 7 km ENE of Fajardo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 2 km SW of Hato Candal, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 14 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 17 km S of Esperanza, 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.