QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near San Juan, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in San Juan in the 24 hours to 2:37 am AST (06:37 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 99 km (62 mi) SE, at 5:44 am AST on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Juan

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) north of San Juan, PR, at 2:07 am AST on 21 July 2021 (06:07 UTC), 73 km deep.

USGS: 19 km N of San Juan, Puerto Rico

27 km (17 mi) N of San Juan, PR

2:07 am AST, Jul 21, 2021 · · 73 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Juan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cataño Municipio 23 kmToa Baja Municipio 24 kmSan Juan Municipio 25 kmLoíza Municipio 27 kmDorado Municipio 27 kmCarolina Municipio 30 kmGuaynabo Municipio 34 kmBayamón Municipio 34 kmTrujillo Alto Municipio 35 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
2:07 am AST on 21 July 2021 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) north of San Juan, PR · earthquakes near San Juan
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
73 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Cataño Municipio, 23 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1873 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In San Juan, 20 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Cataño, Levittown, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sabana Seca, Ingenio, Dorado.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 2017-08-18 — about 2,800 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 · 43 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 3 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico · 32 km WSW 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 18.6454, -66.0824. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cataño Municipio, PR 23 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cataño Municipio
Toa Baja Municipio, PR 24 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Toa Baja Municipio
San Juan Municipio, PR 25 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near San Juan Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SSE earthquakes near Loíza Municipio
Dorado Municipio, PR 27 km (17 mi) SW earthquakes near Dorado Municipio
Carolina Municipio, PR 30 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carolina Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 23 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 8 km NW of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.4 13 km NNE of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 4 km NNW of Levittown, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  7. 3.0 0 km W of Sumidero, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 60 km N of Loíza, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 3 km SSE of Pájaros, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 1 km ESE of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.3 1 km WNW of Morovis, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.9 13 km N of Brenas, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.0 42 km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.3 6 km NW of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.6 0 km W of Canovanas, 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.