QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Ponce, PR

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 8:18 pm AST (00:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) WSW, at 3:45 am AST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ponce

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 7:25 am AST on 2 May 2020 (11:25 UTC), 10 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: Puerto Rico region

12 km (7 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR

7:25 am AST, May 2, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 1.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponce Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Peñuelas Municipio 8 kmGuayanilla Municipio 10 kmPonce Municipio 14 kmYauco Municipio 20 kmGuánica Municipio 21 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 25 kmAdjuntas Municipio 26 kmSabana Grande Municipio 28 kmJayuya Municipio 32 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
7:25 am AST on 2 May 2020 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Peñuelas Municipio, 8 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2307 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 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Tallaboa 5 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 9 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 10 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 11 km, intensity III · Ponce 12 km, intensity III · Yauco 16 km, intensity III · Adjuntas 23 km, intensity II · Río Cañas Abajo 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× more

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 in our catalogue was M 6.4 on 2020-01-07 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

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 17.9521, -66.7246. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) NW earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 14 km (8 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 20 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 21 km (13 mi) W earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Juana Díaz Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) ENE earthquakes near Juana Díaz 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. 2.5 1 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.2 2 km W of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 1.9 2 km SE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.7 3 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 5 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 1.7 Puerto Rico region
  7. 1.6 5 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 8 km SSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.6 4 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 3 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.3 5 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.4 5 km WSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.0 2 km SW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 7 km SSW of Ponce, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 9 km SSE of Tallaboa, 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.