5.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Puerto Rico Causing Damage

Early Monday morning, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the island of Puerto Rico, causing an immediate panic for residents.

According to NBC News, the earthquake struck around 6:32 am just south of the island where its presence was felt the most. Local officials say that there is no tsunami threat following the earthquake. Residents took to social media to upload photos of the aftermath, which showed partially collapsed houses and rocks and boulders blocking the roads.

Carlos Acevedo, the head of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency, said that this 5.8 magnitude earthquake is the “strongest quake since the first in a series jolted the island December 28^th.” Since December 28^th, more than 1,000 earthquakes have been recorded in the area, most of which have not been felt.

Thankfully, there were no major injuries reported.

“My entire family woke up screaming, I thought the house was going to crack in half, said Dr. Sindia Alvarado, who is located in the southern coastal town of Peñuelas.

According to CBS News, Angel Vazquez, an emergency management director for the southern coastal city of Ponce, also said that there were power outages that also occurred as a result of the earthquake. He stated that this was the strongest of the earthquakes that they have experienced thus far.

People in Puerto Rico post photos of deep cracks in walls caused by magnitude 5.8 earthquake. An emergency official says at least two houses collapsed in the coastal town of Guanica. https://t.co/V1ZzNrHZ4w pic.twitter.com/Akxk5bqbzJ

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 6, 2020

According to the Miami Herald, Punta Ventana, one of Puerto Rico’s natural wonders reportedly collapsed as a result of the earthquake as well.

Denniza Colon, a resident in the region says she went by the area Monday and was shocked to see that the arch had collapsed. She said, “This is really sad. It was one of the biggest tourism draws of Guayanilla.”It was one of the biggest tourism draws of Guayanilla.”

Wow💔🇵🇷 just wow dude this fucking hurts me like for real! Something beautiful was taken from Puerto Rico today because of an earthquake of a 5.80 💔😢

Puerto Rico knows how important this place was to us😢🇵🇷💔😭 pic.twitter.com/48EEEJQOtY

— Papi Siy Siy🇵🇷 (@xSiyy_) January 6, 2020

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/earthquake-hits-puerto-rico-island-jolted-5-7-magnitude-quake-n1111046