Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near Ponce, PR
No earthquake was likely felt in Ponce in the 24 hours to 6:49 am AST (10:49 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 18 km (11 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR, at 5:14 am AST on 7 January 2020 (09:14 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: Puerto Rico region
17 km (11 mi) WSW of Ponce, PR
- When
- 5:14 am AST on 7 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) west-southwest of Ponce, PR · earthquakes near Ponce
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Guayanilla Municipio, 7 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2427 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ponce, PR
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Alerts are on for .
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 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponce, 18 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: Magas Arriba 8 km, intensity III · Guayanilla 8 km, intensity III · Tallaboa 9 km, intensity III · Yauco 12 km, intensity III · Tallaboa Alta 14 km, intensity III · Ponce 18 km, intensity III · Adjuntas 25 km, intensity II · San Germán 32 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
- 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 17.9466, -66.7793. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guayanilla Municipio, PR | 7 km (4 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio |
| Peñuelas Municipio, PR | 10 km (6 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | 15 km (9 mi) | W | earthquakes near Guánica Municipio |
| Yauco Municipio, PR | 18 km (11 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Yauco Municipio |
| Ponce Municipio, PR | 19 km (12 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Ponce Municipio |
| Sabana Grande Municipio, PR | 23 km (15 mi) | NW | 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.
- 2.4 5 km SSE of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 0 km ENE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
- 1.6 2 km WSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.8 2 km NNW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.3 8 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.5 3 km SW of Guánica, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 Puerto Rico region
- 2.3 Puerto Rico region
- 2.3 2 km NW of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 3 km SSE of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 3 km E of Yauco, Puerto Rico
- 1.5 2 km SW of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico
- 4.1 6 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 2 km SSE of Indios, Puerto Rico
- 1.7 11 km S 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
- 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.