QUAKE HELL
Puerto Rico earthquake – Homes flattened in third major earthquake in less than a week
PUERTO Rico was rocked by another earthquake today — causing further damage along the battered island’s southern coast.
The struck the U.S. territory at 8.54am left much of southern without power and concrete buildings crumbled.
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No injuries were immediately reported.
The quake is the strongest since a 6.4-magnitude tremor struck the island early Tuesday morning — and last night, Puerto Ricans felt 5.2 and 4.8 aftershocks.
Hundreds of earthquakes that have hit in recent weeks have left residents without power and water.
More than 2,000 people have been staying in shelters as they’re nervous to return home to the crumbling structures.
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Many of the quakes have been too small to be felt, however yesterday, NASA reported the earthquakes moved the land in parts of as much as 5.5 inches.
Puerto Rico, home to around 3.2 million people, lies in a fault zone and the shallow quakes were occurring along three faults in Puerto Rico’s southwest region: Lajas Valley, Montalva Point and the Guayanilla Canyon.
The director of Puerto Rico’s Seismic Network, Victor Huerfano, has said the quakes overall come as the North American plate and the Caribbean plate squeezes Puerto Rico.
He added it’s not clear when the earthquakes would stop — or if bigger quakes would come.
1918 San Fermín earthquake - archive images show impact of 7.3-magnitude quake which hit Puerto Rico unleashing a tsunami
The 6.4- and 5.8-magnitude earthquakes that came earlier this week left dozens of people injured and at least one person, a 77-year-old man, dead when a wall crushed him as it toppled in his home.
Tuesday’s quake caused Punta Ventana, an iconic stone arch in Puerto Rico, to collapse. It was a natural wonder and tourist hotspot in Guayanilla.
More than 100 years ago in 1918, Puerto Rico was hit by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that killed 116 people.
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The quake hit the island’s northwestern coast and unleashed a tsunami with waves up to 20 feet high, according to the territory’s Seismic Network.
Aftershocks were apparently felt “for up to nine months” following the quake — and one that happened less than two weeks later “was strong enough to knock down more buildings."
Now, more than 100 years later, locals fear they’re overdue for an historic quake of that size.
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