Source: RICARDO ARDUENGO / Getty
The major earthquake left Puerto Rico rattled with at least one person dying Tuesday morning in the island’s latest in what’s been a series of hundreds of smaller seismic events over the past few weeks. It was also Puerto Rico’s second damaging earthquake in as many days, following a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
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Video posted to social media showed devastating scenes as the sun rose following the earthquake that struck before 5 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported “widespread blackout, interrupted telecommunications” and “homeowners scrambling out of collapsing homes in towns near the epicenter.”
Images across social media showed homes destroyed and reduced to rubble.
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Other footage appeared to show people inside of a Walmart store during an earthquake, though it was unclear if the video was filmed on Monday or Tuesday or another time.
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Video also showed a natural rock formation being destroyed following Monday’s earthquake.
The earthquakes have come while Puerto Rico was still recovering from the damage left by Hurricane Maria’s wrath in 2017 when nearly 3 million people were killed and related costs swelled to more than $10 billion.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has documented what it called “hundreds of small earthquakes” in the region beginning on Dec. 28. The USGS estimated that more than 400 earthquakes more than magnitude 2 have occurred since then. “The proximity of these events to Puerto Rico, and their shallow depth, mean that dozens of these events have been felt on land, though with the exception of the latest two earthquakes, the M 6.4 and the M 5.8, none are likely to have caused significant damage,” USGS wrote on its website Tuesday morning.
Some residents were prepared with their own generators and solar panels to generate power, but others were not as fortunate.
Puerto Rico news outlet El Nueva Dia published an editorial on Saturday explaining the urgency needed to find a plan to reduce what it called earthquake risks.
“Having an updated plan will determine the probability of family and community safety at that unforeseen moment of an intense earthquake,” El Nueva Dia wrote.
It was still too early to determine the full extent of the damage from Tuesday morning’s earthquake, but chances are that it and Monday’s earthquake have complicated the island’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria.
The Miami Herald reported in September that the “government estimates that anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 people are still living under temporary blue tarps or … have no roofs at all. There are still bridges and roads that are washed out. And almost ten thousand people are waiting for insurance payments.”
As of Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump had not addressed the island’s latest natural disaster. Trump, as some might remember, made headlines when he famously threw rolls of paper towels like he was shooting a basketball to Puerto Rican survivors of Hurricane Maria. Many found that behavior to be extremely disrespectful.
Scroll down to see other devastating images captured in the aftermath of Tuesday’s and the other recent earthquakes that have rocked Puerto Rico.
1. Plunged in darkness
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San Juan is shown after a 6.4 earthquake rattled Puerto Rico early Jan. 7, leaving the island largely without power.
2. Landmarks destroyed
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Popular tourist landmark Punta Ventana is destroyed after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
3.
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Tourists walk toward the collapsed wall of the ruins of an iconic landmark lighthouse in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020, after it was destroyed by an earthquake.
4. Puerto Ricans seek shelter
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A makeshift shelter was set up after a 5.8 earthquake damaged several houses in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
5.
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Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
6. Recovery has begun
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Workers try to repair a damaged electric post after a 5.8 earthquake affected the area in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
7. Homes runied
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A woman stands in front of a house damaged by a 5.8 earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
8.
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Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
9.
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Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 6, 2020.
10. US-QUAKE-PUERTORICO
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San Juan early Jan. 7, 2020.
