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| Earthquake Strikes Puerto Rico, Toppling a Well-Known Natural Wonder | Earthquake Strikes Puerto Rico, Toppling a Well-Known Natural Wonder |
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| GUÁNICA, P.R. — A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook southwestern Puerto Rico before sunrise on Monday, frightening people out of their beds, cracking house walls and destroying a photogenic beachside rock formation known as Punta Ventana. | GUÁNICA, P.R. — A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook southwestern Puerto Rico before sunrise on Monday, frightening people out of their beds, cracking house walls and destroying a photogenic beachside rock formation known as Punta Ventana. |
| The natural wonder in the town of Guayanilla, shaped like a round stone window with a stunning view of the ocean, had begun to look vulnerable after smaller temblors started to hit the area a week ago, Mayor Nelson Torres Yordán said. On Monday, he said, “it finally fell.” | The natural wonder in the town of Guayanilla, shaped like a round stone window with a stunning view of the ocean, had begun to look vulnerable after smaller temblors started to hit the area a week ago, Mayor Nelson Torres Yordán said. On Monday, he said, “it finally fell.” |
| The quake struck at 6:32 a.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. It was the strongest yet to be felt in the coastal towns west of the city of Ponce that have been trembling for more than a week. The rash of smaller temblors began with three shakes of 4.7, 5.0 and 4.7 magnitude in the space of three hours during the night of Dec. 28-29, and have continued since then, clustered in the same area a few miles offshore. | |
| No one was seriously hurt, Gov. Wanda Vázquez said. Classes at local public schools, which were scheduled to resume on Tuesday, were pushed back until Jan. 13 to give inspectors time to check the buildings for damages, she said. The schools will conduct earthquake drills the day that they reopen, the governor added. At least one school building in the town of Guayanilla was being used as a shelter on Monday afternoon. | |
| José Francisco Benítez, 48, said he was awakened by the quake at a beach resort in the town of Guánica, where some of the most serious damage was reported. | |
| “It started shaking a bit, but then, all of a sudden, we felt a jolt — I’d never seen anything like it,” he said. “Everything shook.” | |
| He said he ran outside in a panic, along with everyone else. “There were people in their underwear in the parking lot, everyone in pajamas, little kids,” Mr. Benítez said. “It looked like a movie.” | He said he ran outside in a panic, along with everyone else. “There were people in their underwear in the parking lot, everyone in pajamas, little kids,” Mr. Benítez said. “It looked like a movie.” |
| A strong, 4.9-magnitude aftershock struck about four hours after the big quake, rattling nerves again. | A strong, 4.9-magnitude aftershock struck about four hours after the big quake, rattling nerves again. |
| Officials warned of possible mudslides and urged people to stay off the roads in the area to allow emergency personnel to assess the damage. | |
| Monday is Three Kings Day, a holiday in Puerto Rico that is also known as the Feast of the Epiphany. Towns in the area went ahead with holiday parades on Monday, though some attendees said they felt jittery. Mr. Benítez, who had traveled to Guánica for the long weekend, said he planned to quickly return to San Juan, the capital. | |
| Several houses in Guánica were reported to have collapsed. Supporting columns crumbled underneath Silvestre Alicea’s elevated light green house with white trim, leaving the toppled structure perched at a precarious angle. | |
| “Look at my house,” said Mr. Alicea, 66, who returned to Puerto Rico from Brooklyn two years ago, moving in to the house he had built over the course of 30 years in preparation for his retirement. “I was there, in there,” he said. | |
| Many of the houses in the Esperanza neighborhood where he lives were built elevated on columns to spare them from floods, on an island more accustomed to the threat of hurricanes than of earthquakes. Mr. Alicea’s house survived Hurricane Maria in 2017 but not the quake on Monday. | |
| He said he planned to spend the night at his sister’s house nearby, but could not think further into the future. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. | |
| Early Monday afternoon, Héctor Luis Rodríguez, 83, sat in his car, still paralyzed with fear following the quake and its aftershocks. His house had already been patched up with a blue tarpaulin after the hurricane. The tarp is still there. Now, so are huge cracks running up and across the green interior walls. | |
| “It cracked open everywhere inside,” said Mr. Rodríguez, 83, a retired bus driver. | |
| The first cracks inside the house, where he has lived for 39 years, appeared a few days ago, after the first temblors. They worsened on Monday, and pipes in the bathroom broke, leading to some flooding. | |
| “I worry that I’m going to be homeless,” he said. Minutes later, the earth rumbled again. | |
| In Guayanilla, emergency workers helped a couple and two children whose elevated house collapsed, burying three cars that had been parked underneath. The man who lived inside, identified only by his first name, Alan, described to NotiCentro the harrowing moment in which the earth trembled, waking him up as the floor gave way. | In Guayanilla, emergency workers helped a couple and two children whose elevated house collapsed, burying three cars that had been parked underneath. The man who lived inside, identified only by his first name, Alan, described to NotiCentro the harrowing moment in which the earth trembled, waking him up as the floor gave way. |
| “The house fell with us in it,” he said, standing outside barefoot with two bloody scratches on his leg. “The house collapsed, ‘Boom!’” | “The house fell with us in it,” he said, standing outside barefoot with two bloody scratches on his leg. “The house collapsed, ‘Boom!’” |
| He picked up one of his children, his wife grabbed the other one, and they made their way out the door. The house had stood on 12 columns about eight feet tall. The automobiles below appeared to stave off a complete collapse of the roof, he said. | He picked up one of his children, his wife grabbed the other one, and they made their way out the door. The house had stood on 12 columns about eight feet tall. The automobiles below appeared to stave off a complete collapse of the roof, he said. |
| “We’re alive, thank God, because of the cars,” he said. | “We’re alive, thank God, because of the cars,” he said. |
| His wife said they would be unable to salvage the Three Kings Day gifts they had purchased for the children — a pair of bicycles, stowed in the trunk of one of the cars. The interview was dramatically interrupted by the strong aftershock, which made the woman and the reporter scream and rush off camera to a safer side of the street, away from power lines and poles. | His wife said they would be unable to salvage the Three Kings Day gifts they had purchased for the children — a pair of bicycles, stowed in the trunk of one of the cars. The interview was dramatically interrupted by the strong aftershock, which made the woman and the reporter scream and rush off camera to a safer side of the street, away from power lines and poles. |
| Mayor Torres of Guayanilla said the town planned to open a shelter for people whose homes were too badly damaged to occupy. He urged the island’s government in San Juan to send social workers to the region to ease people’s nerves. | Mayor Torres of Guayanilla said the town planned to open a shelter for people whose homes were too badly damaged to occupy. He urged the island’s government in San Juan to send social workers to the region to ease people’s nerves. |
| “Things are really very tense about what has been going on, because this is not normal — so many tremors,” he said. | “Things are really very tense about what has been going on, because this is not normal — so many tremors,” he said. |
| Elizabeth Vanacore, a seismologist with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, said people felt the recent quakes because they were shallow and occurred near land. | Elizabeth Vanacore, a seismologist with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, said people felt the recent quakes because they were shallow and occurred near land. |
| “People can expect to feel more earthquakes over the next few days, especially given its location near the coast,” Dr. Vanacore said. | “People can expect to feel more earthquakes over the next few days, especially given its location near the coast,” Dr. Vanacore said. |
| Puerto Rico lies near the border of the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. “We’re just as likely to have earthquakes as a place like California, Japan, New Zealand, Alaska,” Dr. Vanacore said. | Puerto Rico lies near the border of the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. “We’re just as likely to have earthquakes as a place like California, Japan, New Zealand, Alaska,” Dr. Vanacore said. |
| The island has seen damaging quakes in the past, including one near the island’s northwest coast in 1918 that triggered a tsunami and killed 118 people, according to the Geological Service. But major earthquakes in the southwestern part of Puerto Rico have been unusual in recent history. The last significant temblors recorded in that area, in 1991 and 1999, had a magnitude of about 4.1 on the Richter scale, according to the Seismic Network, whose data dates back to 1986. | The island has seen damaging quakes in the past, including one near the island’s northwest coast in 1918 that triggered a tsunami and killed 118 people, according to the Geological Service. But major earthquakes in the southwestern part of Puerto Rico have been unusual in recent history. The last significant temblors recorded in that area, in 1991 and 1999, had a magnitude of about 4.1 on the Richter scale, according to the Seismic Network, whose data dates back to 1986. |
| “While we can’t predict earthquakes, what the public can do is prepare,” Dr. Vanacore said. | “While we can’t predict earthquakes, what the public can do is prepare,” Dr. Vanacore said. |
| Alejandra Rosa reported from Guánica, P.R., and Patricia Mazzei from Miami. Kitty Bennett contributed research. | Alejandra Rosa reported from Guánica, P.R., and Patricia Mazzei from Miami. Kitty Bennett contributed research. |