After the worst earthquake that Puerto Rico has suffered in a century, the people affected have spent the night and day in the dark and amid the uncertainty of whether one day they will be able to return home.
Some even chose to spend the first night after the 6.4-degree quake just outside their homes, fearing there would be aftershocks and someone taking advantage of the lack of electricity to try to steal something.
"The night has been very bad," Puerto Rican Gilsaelle Torres Pacheco, a resident of Guayanilla, a devastated site where even a historic church was destroyed, told Telemundo News. "It has been very worrying because the tremors have been every 25 minutes. And although they are somewhat mild aftershocks, since everything has subsided since the earthquake."
So far there is a dead person due to the earthquake, nine wounds and two thirds of the island still have no electricity, especially since the power grid itself had collapsed since September 2017, when Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
Torres Pacheco, who spent the night outside with his whole family, including minors, lamented that "the town is destroyed" and that "there is insecurity" and uncertainty in Guayanilla. He predicted that those affected will have to spend several nights outside, in the open, in which it is known who can re-enter their homes and when.
Many do not even have a home to return to. Hundreds of homes were damaged or left uninhabitable, according to authorities.
Affected Puerto Ricans ended up in shelters.
"There is no light, there is no water, there is nothing. This is terrible ," Lupita Martínez told the Associated Press.
The Trump administration declared a state of emergency after the quake, although for Puerto Ricans like Torres Pacheco, the declaration is not enough.
"Let there be speed, that they expedite all aid or, if they have to mobilize us from here, come soon," said the woman.
After María, in 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took time to mobilize assistance for the island, such as electric generators, tents and even food and drinking water. FEMA itself acknowledged in a 2018 report that there were "inefficiencies."
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that there have been more than 40 aftershocks since the morning of January 7.
Santos Seda, the mayor of Guánica, another of the most affected localities, even told the media on Wednesday that the municipality is "facing a crisis worse than that of Hurricane Maria."
