Since December 28, 2019, Puerto Rico has suffered an ongoing series of over 9,400 earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.5-6.4. Initial damage estimates in January 2020 were >$3.1 billion and Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced declared a state of emergency on January 7, 2020. (Disaster Philanthropy) Thousands of people have been left without housing, one person had died as a direct result of the earthquake on January 7, 2020, and as of January 10, 2020, three people had died of medical conditions related to the earthquakes. As of December 2020, earthquakes are still being reported. (Earthquake Track)
Date of event: December 28, 2019-Present
Notable earthquakes:
- January 6, 2020
- 5.8 magnitude earthquake
- January 7, 2020
- 6.4 magnitude earthquake
- 1 fatality (3 additional indirect fatalities)
- January 11, 2020
- 5.9 magnitude aftershock earthquake
- Damages: $1 billion in Ponce alone
- January 15, 2020
- 5.2 magnitude earthquake
- January 25, 2020
- 5.0 magnitude earthquake
- May 2, 2020
- 5.4 magnitude aftershock earthquake of Jan. 7
- August 6, 2020
- 4.8 aftershock earthquake
Click here for more on recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico.
Related Resources:
-
House Committee on Natural Resources Report on Puerto Rico’s Earthquakes
-
Potential Duration of the Aftershocks of the 2020 Southwestern Puerto Rico Earthquake
- ShakeOut Earthquake Drills During COVID 2020
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Photo Credit: USGS