Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near Guayanilla, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Guayanilla in the 24 hours to 10:48 am AST (14:48 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, in Guayanilla, at 4:39 pm AST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Guayanilla
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Guayanilla, PR, at 10:53 pm AST on 11 January 2020 (02:53 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 2 km NNW of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
19 km (12 mi) WNW of Ponce, PR
- When
- 10:53 pm AST on 11 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Guayanilla, PR · earthquakes near Guayanilla
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Guayanilla Municipio, 4 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2414 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Guayanilla, PR
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Guayanilla, 2 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: Guayanilla 2 km, intensity III · Magas Arriba 4 km, intensity III · Yauco 5 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 10 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 11 km, intensity III · Adjuntas 16 km, intensity II · Ponce 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 250,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km NW 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 18.0368, -66.8039. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guayanilla Municipio, PR | 4 km (2 mi) | S | earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio |
| Yauco Municipio, PR | 8 km (5 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yauco Municipio |
| Peñuelas Municipio, PR | 8 km (5 mi) | E | earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 16 km (10 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Guánica Municipio |
| Sabana Grande Municipio, PR | 16 km (10 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio |
| Adjuntas Municipio, PR | 17 km (10 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Adjuntas 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.
- 4.5 8 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 1 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 0 km NW of Fuig, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 10 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 16 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 10 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 8 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 7 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 6 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 5 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 9 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 4 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 8 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 Puerto Rico region
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.