An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 returns to shake Puerto Rico and leaves at least one dead

A tremor of magnitude 6.6 shook the south of Puerto Rico on Tuesday again leaving at least one dead and causing power cuts on the island. The quake, with a depth of one kilometer, took place at 4.24 hours (8.24 GMT), one day after registering another 5.8 degree telluric movement that caused serious damage to homes.

Although a tsunami alert was initially issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, minutes later the RSPR canceled it. The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, announced the suspension of work for public officials.

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Like the tremor on Tuesday, the epicenter of this new earthquake was registered south of Guayanilla and southwest of Ponce. So far no victims have been reported on the island, which, however, has suffered power cuts and communications in much of the territory.

The governor of the island asked for "calm" to the residents of Puerto Rico after the strong tremor through Twitter and urged them to "remain safe."

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Glidden López, spokesman for the Municipality of Guayanilla, said several buildings in the municipality were destroyed and a local parish collapsed, in statements collected by the newspaper El Nuevo Día .

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported that damages were reported in the Central Costa Sur and substations are evaluated around the island and that they hope to recover the service in the next few hours.

In addition, the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority also reported problems in the network, which hope to rectify the water service "as soon as possible".

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said Monday that in recent weeks there have been hundreds of small earthquakes in the region of Puerto Rico, a series that began an earthquake of 4.7 on December 28 of 2019. The last great earthquake was the one recorded on Monday, 5.8, with several replicas, including one of magnitude 5.1 more than four hours later. These earthquakes, USGS said, are a result of the North American plate converging with the Caribbean plate and the island is compressed between the two.

The governor, who already promised on Monday helps those affected by the magnitude 5.8 earthquake and who especially punished the municipalities of Guánica and Guayanilla, where several homes collapsed, said Tuesday that all government security services are "activated ".

For the sake of greater security, Vázquez announced that the public sector will close on Tuesday so officials can stay with their families and urged citizens to inspect their residences as soon as dawn.

The United States Geological Survey located the epicenter just south of the island at a depth of 10 kilometers. (6.2 miles). A tsunami alert was not issued.

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