Puerto Rico was rocked by an earthquake of early Tuesday morning a day after the island was struck by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, says US Geological Survey. The new earthquake struck five miles southwest of Tallaboa on Puerto Rico's southwestern coast. Ponce Mayor Mayita Meléndez told Telemundo early on Tuesday that a woman (77), died during a wall collapse.
The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that happened yesterday destroyed the stone arch, known as Punta Ventana, a popular tourist sight in the island. There were no warnings of tsunami after the quake today.
The quake struck the island 3:24 am local time, around 10 kilometres south of Indios. There was a power outage following the earthquake and a possible tsunami warning which was turned off later on. The unincorporated US territory has been experiencing tremors since the past couple of weeks with yesterday's tremors causing damages to building and monuments.
The power company is under auto protective mechanism
The power company of Puerto Rico Authority of Electrical Energy said that the quake had caused the outage and would be rectified soon. Wanda Vasquez, the governor of Puerto Rico, asked the citizens to remain calm as the government was trying to deal with the new tremors with necessary actions. They reported that there were slight damages in the south of the island but hoped that the rest of the region will have electricity soon.
The USGS warned that there are chances of more tremors with the chance of a large earthquake following the previous ones which could mean more damage in the country. Geologists had previously warned after yesterday's earthquake that there are chances of more tremors. Southwest town of Guánica experienced widespread damage following the earthquake.
Víctor Huérfano, director of Puerto Rico's Seismic Network told the Associated Press that there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries because the communications are down at the moment. But, officials have informed him that the city of Ponce has experienced widespread damage. Puerto Rico hopes that this is the largest earthquake for now.
In 1918 the island felt a tremor of 7.3 which was one of the largest and most damaging earthquake endured by Puerto Rico.
