A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the island country of Puerto Rico in the early morning hours on Tuesday, leaving one person dead and eight others injured.
The U.S. Geological Survey said that the Tuesday morning quake hit at 4:24 am with a shallow depth of six miles below the surface.
According to the Associated Press, below southern Puerto Rico, tectonic plates along three different fault lines have been grinding together causing a series of earthquakes over the last ten days.
On Monday, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Puerto Rico triggering landslides and causing houses to collapse.
Since the Tuesday morning quake struck, the Associated Press reports that more than a dozen aftershocks were triggered. While most of the aftershocks were between a magnitude 2.5 and 5.6, less than three hours after the initial temblor, a powerful magnitude 6.0 aftershock hit the area.
Initially, a tsunami alert was also issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The alert was later canceled.
The powerful quake is reported to have knocked out the island’s power. Power plants have shut down to protect themselves and the country’s main airport is operating with the use of a generator. Power is expected to be restored later in the day Tuesday.
In Ponce, Puerto Rico, authorities have evacuated more than 150 people from two historic buildings at risk of collapse. Among those evacuated were more than two dozen elderly nursing home patients.
Many residents of the region have voiced fear following the seismic activity.
70-year-old resident of Ponce, Nelson Rivera, said he feared he would be trapped under the rubble. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, I didn’t think we would get out,” he recalled. “I said: ‘We’ll be buried here.’”
At this point, seismologists have no way of predicting when the tremors will stop or if they will get stronger.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Dennis Vdw
Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College with degrees in English and History. Previously she wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has written on her blog since 2012 and has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.
Comments are closed.