A magnitude 5.9 quake shook Puerto Rico on Saturday, causing further damage along the island’s southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8:54 a.m. (1254 GMT) quake hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Indios at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers).
Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority said outages were reported across much of southern Puerto Rico and crews were assessing possible damage at power plants.
PUERTO RICO EARTHQUAKE, POWER OUTAGE SPURS STATE OF EMERGENCY, MANY SLEEP OUTSIDE AMID ‘UNCERTAINTY’
Bárbara Cruz, a prosecutor who was in the southern coastal city of Ponce when the new quake hit, said concrete debris hit the sidewalk as buildings continued to crumble.
“Everyone is out on the street,” she said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
It was the strongest shake yet since a magnitude 6.4 quake — the strongest to hit the island in a century — struck before dawn on Tuesday, knocking out power across Puerto Rico and leaving many without water. More than 2,000 people remain in shelters, many fearful of returning to their homes, and others unable to because of extensive damage.
PUERTO RICO EARTHQUAKE CAUSES POPULAR TOURIST ROCK FORMATION TO COLLAPSE
The Adripina Seda public school stands partially collapsed after an earthquake struck Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
(AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Hundreds of quakes have shaken the island since the new year, though most were too slight to be felt.
NASA reported Friday that the quakes had moved the land in parts of southern Puerto Rico as much as 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), based on satellite images before and after the temblors.
Víctor Huérfano, director of Puerto Rico’s Seismic Network, told The Associated Press that he expects still more aftershocks as a result of the latest large one.
“It’s going to re-energize an unstable situation,” he said, adding that seismologists are studying which faults were activated. “It’s a complex zone.”
This combo of two photos shows “Punta Ventana,” or Window Point, in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on Jan. 27, 2019, top, before it fell, and after it fell on Jan. 6, 2020 due to an earthquake.
(Edgar Gracia Portello via AP, top, and AP Photo by Jorge A Ramirez Portela, bottom)
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Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are still without power and water, and thousands are staying in shelters and sleeping on sidewalks since Tuesday’s earthquake. That temblor killed one person, injured nine others and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and several schools and businesses in the island’s southwest region.
