5.8-Magnitude Quake Strikes Puerto Rico, Damaging Homes
Puerto Rico doesn’t have a public earthquake warning system, except for sirens that are supposed to ring in case of a tsunami
By Danica Coto ••
NBCUniversal, Inc.
File image
A 5.8 magnitude quake hit Puerto Rico before dawn Monday, unleashing small landslides, causing power outages and collapsing some homes, as well as a famed tourist attraction. It was one of the strongest quakes yet in a series that have hit the U.S. territory over the past week.
The quake was followed by a string of smaller temblors, including one measured at magnitude 5 that struck at 10:51 a.m. (1451 GMT), shaking power lines and frightening residents of southern Puerto Rico who had been waiting outside their homes due to fears the buildings were damaged and unstable.
The first quake struck at 6:32 a.m. (1032 GMT) just south of the island at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
Cars drive through an area heavily affected by a landslide after a powerful earthquake hit the island in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Jan. 12, 2020. A 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
People arrive with supplies for affected residents in Guanica, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 12, 2020, after a powerful earthquake hit the island. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Xavier Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A person inspects rubble and destroyed power lines in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. Puerto Rico was hit by a series of earthquakes over the past 15 days, leading to a state of emergency, various power outages and millions of dollars of damage.
Xavier Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Caterpillar Inc. excavator sits on a destroyed bridge in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. Puerto Rico was hit by a series of earthquakes over the past 15 days, leading to a state of emergency, various power outages and millions of dollars of damage.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
A barber gives free haircuts to people at a shelter in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 12, 2020, after a powerful earthquake hit the island. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Carlos Giusti/AP
William Mercuchi’s house sits damaged after a 6.4 earthquake hit Yauco, Puerto Rico, the day before, as seen in this Jan. 8, 2020, photo.
Carlos Giusti/AP
A building collapses after the previous day’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Yauco, Puerto Rico, Jan. 8, 2020. More than 250,000 Puerto Ricans remained without water on Wednesday and another half a million without power.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Maritza Quiñones Rodriguez, 51, cries as she and other neighbors remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Paramedics assist a man suffering from seizures as he and neighbors remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks on their first night after an earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Volunteers distribute food to neighbors who remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Neighbors place Martin Velez, 96, on a bed outside a shelter after an earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Store owners and family help remove supplies from Ely Mer Mar hardware store, which partially collapsed after an earthquake struck Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, killing one man, injuring others and collapsing buildings in the southern part of the island.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the island – the latest in a series of tremors that have shaken the island since December 28.
Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of damages at Guanica town after 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020.
Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of damages at Guanica town after 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020.
RICARDO ARDUENGO
Paramedics carry away an injured patient after a earthquake hit the island in Ponce, Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020. Eight people were hurt from the latest quake, with one man dead.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
A man carries a St. Jude statue from the Inmaculada Concepcion church ruins that was built in 1841 and collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020. A strong earthquake struck south of Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning – the latest in a series of tremors that have shaken the island since December 28. The shallow 6.4 magnitude quake struck five miles south of the community of Indios, the USGS said.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Debris from a collapsed wall of a building litters the ground after an earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Amir Seneriz, president of the Logia Aurora Organization, inspects damages after an earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Courtesy Fabián Torres
A damaged wall crumbles in Yauco, Puerto Rico, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Courtesy Fabián Torres
Cracks appeared on a damaged building in Yauco, Puerto Rico, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
San Juan is plunged in darkness after a 6.4 earthquake rattled Puerto Rico early Jan. 7, 2020, leaving the island largely without power.
Courtesy Jesus Ramos
San Juan sits in darkness after power is knocked out following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Puerto Rico Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Courtesy Jorge Torres Ramos
Products scatter on the floor of a damaged grocery store in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Telemundo Puerto Rico
A damaged house sits in Guanica, Puerto Rico, after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit off the southern coast of Puerto Rico on Monday morning, Jan. 6, 2019.
Telemundo Puerto Rico
Guanica, Puerto Rico, residents survey a felled utility pole after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit off the southern coast of Puerto Rico on Monday morning, Jan. 6, 2019.
The shake collapsed a coastal rock formation that had formed a sort of rounded window, Punta Ventana, that was a popular tourist draw in the southwest town of Guayanilla.
In the southern town of Guanica, Mayor Santos Seda told The Associated Press that five homes collapsed, but only one of them was inhabited. No injuries had been reported.
Another 29 homes were heavily damaged and about to collapse, he said.
Helicopters buzzed overhead and terrified residents jumped up from their folding chairs every time the earth shook, yelling at others to stay away from power lines.
Si este no es el último, debe ser uno de los últimos reportajes sobre la “Ventana del Caribe” en Guayanilla. Esto fue el viernes e informábamos que se estaba derrumbando a consecuencia de los temblores recientes. Después del terremoto de hoy, “La Ventana” ya no existe. pic.twitter.com/E0rAbF0uBQ
Few people dared go back inside their homes, but José Quiñones, 54, had no choice. His 80-year-old mother had heart problems and was lying in bed.
Dozens of people in a neighborhood called Hope in Guanica walked around with their phones and yelled out the magnitude of the latest earthquakes as they tried to calm children who were forced to open the presents they'd received for Three Kings Day, a religious holiday, on streets and sidewalks.
“This is hell,” said Albert Rodríguez, 43, whose home collapsed on one side as the smell of gas filled the air. “We haven’t slept.... You can’t remain calm here. Guanica is no longer a safe place.”
Less than a block away, Silvestre Alicea surveyed his home, which collapsed on his prized blue 1977 Toyota Corolla as he leaped from the balcony.
Alicea had lived in New York for years until he retired to Guanica two years ago to live in the home he spent 15 years building. He doesn’t have insurance.
People in the working-class neighborhood shared soda and snacks as they sought shelter from a harsh sun, careful to stay away from homes whose columns and foundations were heavily cracked.
Earthquakes of at Least 2.5 Magnitude Near Puerto Rico December 23, 2019 - January 6, 2020
Source: USGS
Many already had bags packed in their cars with a change of clothes, food, water and medicine.
Some like Noelia De Jesús, 69, and her husband, who uses a wheelchair, didn’t know where they would spend the night. Government officials who inspected their home earlier in the morning said it was unsafe to live in and advised them to stay elsewhere.
“Everything broke, including the TV,” she said. “This is horrible.”
Puerto Rico doesn’t have a public earthquake warning system, except for sirens that are supposed to ring in case of a tsunami. Residents in this neighborhood criticized the government for what they believe is a lack of action.
Dr. Sindia Alvarado, who lives in the southern coastal town of Penuelas, said she was petrified.
“My entire family woke up screaming,” she said. “I though the house was going to crack in half.”
The flurry of quakes in Puerto Rico's southern region began the night of Dec. 28, with quakes ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.1. Previous quakes of lesser magnitudes in recent days have cracked homes and knocked goods off supermarket shelves.
Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Rico's Seismic Network, told the AP that shallow quakes were occurring along three faults in Puerto Rico’s southwest region: Lajas Valley, Montalva Point and the Guayanilla Canyon. He said the quakes overall come as the North American plate and the Caribbean plate squeeze Puerto Rico, and that more earthquakes and aftershocks are expected, although officials expect them to eventually taper off.
One of the largest and most damaging earthquakes to hit Puerto Rico occurred in October 1918, when a magnitude 7.3 quake struck near the island’s northwest coast, unleashing a tsunami and killing 116 people.
