The Miami Herald
By Jim Wyss
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Merchandise toppled off of shelves and parts of buildings crumbled in southern Puerto Rico Saturday morning after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake rattled the island.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 7:13 a.m. local time off the coast of Ponce and Peñuelas — a region that has been hit by a series of earthquakes since late 2019.
The spokeswoman for the city of Ponce told the Associated Press that a second-floor balcony had collapsed, and pictures on social media showed damage in the city’s colonial center. A public housing project in Ponce was also evacuated due to damage.
The earthquake and several aftershocks were felt across the island, which has been on lock-down since March 16 due to the coronavirus.
Gov. Wanda Vázquez traveled to the region to survey the damage and reminded people not to forget security precautions related to the virus if they were forced to leave their homes.
To our people, stay calm,” Vázquez wrote on Twitter. “We’re ready for any emergency. If your structure is damaged, you should leave with your mask and your emergency backpack.”
Puerto Rico’s Power Authority said the tremor had initially knocked its EcoElectrica power plant off-line, but the agency said there were no signs of damage at its power plants or the Guayabal and Guajataca dams.
Puerto Rico’s southern coast has been battered by earthquakes that began in late 2019 and culminated on Jan 7 with a 6.4-magnitude and a series of aftershocks that damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and left one dead. It also forced thousands of people to sleep in makeshift or government-provided camps. Some of those people are still sleeping outside.
https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1256643137335889921
To complicate matters, the island has been on lock-down since March 16 as it tries to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The U.S. territory of 3.2 million people has reported 1,757 cases of the virus and 95 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Despite an uptick in new cases, the island is scheduled to take the first steps toward reopening its economy on Monday.
Jose Seda, 55, spent more than a month camping outside, in the southern city of Guayanilla, after the earthquakes earlier this year. But he was back living at his home on Saturday, when the morning jolt sent him running onto the street.
“It was strong,” he said. “There was no way not to feel it.”
But what’s really bothering people in his community is the coronavirus quarantine that is keeping them from making a living, he said.
“People are stuck at home and want to get back to work,” he said. “Due to the economic situation, we’re getting desperate.”
Saturday’s earthquake — initially reported as a 5.5 magnitude — is related to January’s “mainshock,” the USGS said. Since the Jan. 7 earthquake, the island has been hit with at least six aftershocks of magnitude 5.5 or larger and more than 1,000 tremors of magnitude 3.0 and larger.
Puerto Rico is squeezed between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates and earthquakes are frequent in the region.
(c)2020 Miami Herald