QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Palomas, PR

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Palomas in the last 24 hours. M 2.1, 3 km (2 mi) SE of Palomas, at 4:14 pm AST on 11 November 2026 (20:14 UTC); the estimated shaking in Palomas was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Palomas

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Palomas, PR, at 5:06 am AST on 12 January 2020 (09:06 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 1 km S of Palomas, Puerto Rico

26 km (16 mi) W of Ponce, PR

5:06 am AST, Jan 12, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palomas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guayanilla Municipio 8 kmGuánica Municipio 8 kmYauco Municipio 9 kmSabana Grande Municipio 12 kmPeñuelas Municipio 15 kmLajas Municipio 18 kmMaricao Municipio 20 kmSan Germán Municipio 21 kmAdjuntas Municipio 23 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
5:06 am AST on 12 January 2020 ()
Where
in Palomas, PR · earthquakes near Palomas
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guayanilla Municipio, 8 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2414 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: Yauco 4 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 9 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 11 km, intensity II · Tallaboa 16 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 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 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km E of Moca, Puerto Rico · 49 km NNW 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 18.0034, -66.8716. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) E earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Guánica Municipio, PR 8 km (5 mi) SW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 9 km (6 mi) N earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Sabana Grande Municipio, PR 12 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Sabana Grande Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 15 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Lajas 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. 1.7 16 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  2. 1.9 13 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.1 3 km ESE of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.5 7 km SSW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.7 2 km WNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 8 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.3 2 km NNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.9 3 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 6 km SE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.2 3 km E of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 11 km SSE of Maria Antonia, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 11 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.4 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.