List of earthquakes in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands lie at the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates, making these territories prone to earthquakes.

[1] This is a highly active seismic region both surrounded and traversed by numerous faults; to the north, the North American plate subducts beneath the Caribbean plate, while a number of strike-slip faults cross the main island of Puerto Rico diagonally from southeast to northwest.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also located on a microplate that is continuously being deformed by the subduction zone to the north.

It was established with the goal evaluating seismic features for the purpose of building nuclear power plants in the region.

A small tsunami was recorded in Mayagüez, Aguadilla and as far away in San Juan and even Daytona Beach, FL and Atlantic City, NJ.

Map showing the epicenters of all the magnitude 5 and greater earthquakes in the eastern region of the Caribbean for the last 100 years. Filled circle color indicates depth and circle size indicates magnitude. The five biggest, most destructive, earthquakes of the last 250 years with magnitudes of 7 and greater are shown by stars.
Map showing epicenters of M≥5 earthquakes up to February 4, 2020, in the 2019–2020 Puerto Rico swarm sequence of earthquakes.