QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Tallaboa, PR

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

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Tallaboa, PR, at 11:00 am AST on 7 January 2020 (15:00 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 25 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico

30 km (18 mi) SSW of Ponce, PR

11:00 am AST, Jan 7, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tallaboa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Guánica Municipio 26 kmGuayanilla Municipio 26 kmPeñuelas Municipio 29 kmPonce Municipio 31 kmYauco Municipio 37 kmLajas Municipio 37 kmJuana Díaz Municipio 38 kmSabana Grande Municipio 40 kmSanta Isabel Municipio 45 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
11:00 am AST on 7 January 2020 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Tallaboa, PR · earthquakes near Tallaboa
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Guánica Municipio, 26 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2426 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 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Tallaboa, 26 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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 26 km, intensity II · Magas Arriba 28 km, intensity II · Guayanilla 28 km, intensity II · Ponce 31 km, intensity II · Yauco 31 km, intensity II · Tallaboa Alta 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 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 130,000 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 17.7697, -66.7636. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Guánica Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Guánica Municipio
Guayanilla Municipio, PR 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near Guayanilla Municipio
Peñuelas Municipio, PR 29 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Peñuelas Municipio
Ponce Municipio, PR 31 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ponce Municipio
Yauco Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) NNW earthquakes near Yauco Municipio
Lajas Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) NW 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. 2.3 1 km S of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.1 2 km W of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  3. 4.6 3 km SSW of Indios, Puerto Rico
  4. 1.6 2 km NNE of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.1 12 km SSE of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.5 6 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  7. 1.5 4 km S of Magas Arriba, Puerto Rico
  8. 1.6 1 km SSE of Yauco, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.0 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.0 10 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 6 km S of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.1 4 km S of Indios, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 9 km SSW of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.6 1 km N of Indios, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 2 km WNW 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.