An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 shakes Puerto Rico on a second day of strong tremors that record at least 1 deceased

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 and several other strong tremors hit Puerto Rico on Tuesday morning, killing at least one man and injuring several others a day after an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 shook the island, they said The authorities.

Power outages and damage were reported near the south coast of the island, including the city of Ponce, where a 77-year-old man died and at least eight others were injured, the emergency management director of Ponce, Ángel Vásquez.

The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez Garced, signed a declaration of a state of emergency for the island, thus activating the Puerto Rico National Guard.

The 6.4 degree earthquake occurred at 4:24 a.m. (3:24 a.m. ET), centered near the southern coast of Puerto Rico, about 10 kilometers south of the city of Indians, the US Geological Survey said. UU.

Several other strong earthquakes followed, including an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 just south of Indians at 7:18 a.m., the USGS said.

Riko González and her parents were sleeping at home in Yauco, near Indios, when the 6.4 earthquake occurred. They woke up with a thud and ran out of the house. Dishes and glasses broke on the kitchen floor, he said.
It was “horrible, nothing compared to yesterday’s (magnitude) 5,” Gonzalez told CNN.

“People are afraid of going to bed, because then they could be awakened by earthquakes worse than the day before,” he said.

In Guayanilla, just north of Indians, homes and a church were damaged, Mayor Nelson Torres said in a telephone interview with WAPA, a CNN affiliate.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported widespread blackouts throughout the island after its power plants activated a self-protection mechanism after the earthquake.

The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez Garced, urged citizens to remain calm while the government responds to the most recent earthquake.

“Hope all is well. We are receiving our information from @NMEADpr and @DSPnoticias, ”he said in a statement on Twitter. “The whole government is active and in action. I ask our people to remain calm and I urge you to stay safe. ”

Earthquakes occur more than two years after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory in September 2017.

No tsunami is expected after Tuesday’s earthquakes, the US National Tsunami Warning Center said. UU.

The magnitude of the largest earthquake on Tuesday morning was adjusted slightly downward in subsequent hours, after initially registering as 6.6.

Puerto Rico has experienced a series of earthquakes since December 28, according to USGS data, which vary in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.8 on Sunday.

All earthquakes seem to have been the foretaste of the strongest movement this Tuesday morning, said CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

On Monday, the early morning earthquake in the same area caused some damage, including rock landslides and the collapse of a house in Guayanilla, said Carlos Acevedo, director of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency.

CNN’s Hollie Silverman, Ana Melgar Zuniga and Roxanne Garcia-Bell contributed to this report.

From CNN