QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Peñuelas, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Peñuelas in the 24 hours to 5:25 pm AST (21:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) WSW, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Peñuelas

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Peñuelas, PR, at 7:17 am AST on 20 January 2020 (11:17 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 1 km WSW of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico

13 km (8 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR

7:17 am AST, Jan 20, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Peñuelas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 3 kmGuayanilla Municipio 9 kmYauco Municipio 14 kmPonce Municipio 14 kmAdjuntas Municipio 15 kmSabana Grande Municipio 23 kmGuánica Municipio 23 kmJayuya Municipio 24 kmUtuado 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
7:17 am AST on 20 January 2020 ()
Where
in Peñuelas, PR · earthquakes near Peñuelas
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 3 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2408 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 20 km (12 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: Tallaboa Alta 3 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 5 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 6 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 7 km, intensity II · Ponce 12 km, intensity II · Adjuntas 12 km, intensity II · Yauco 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 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 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 710,000 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 18.0508, -66.7322. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 3 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 9 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Adjuntas Municipio, PR 15 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near Adjuntas Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 23 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 5 km ESE of La Parguera, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 3 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.7 20 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 16 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 10 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.4 5 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.3 0 km WSW of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 1 km SE of Palomas, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 0 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.6 2 km NNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.9 1 km WNW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 1 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 15 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.8 4 km W of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 7 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.