The director of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, Victor OrphanHe said that since last night over 150 earthquakes have been recorded, including seven that were felt in several areas of Puerto Rico, related, preliminary, to the Montalva Fault.
According to the expert, the first of these events took place at 7:06 p.m. south of Guánica and had a magnitude of 4.7 with an intensity of 5.0 in Ponce.
Other events took place after this earthquake, but the most relevant was one that was reported past 9:00 p.m. with a magnitude of 5.0 in the same southern zone.
Orphan said that the entity’s preliminary studies suggest that this seismic activity is associated with the Montalva Fault that is located in the southwest area of the island, one of the eight areas where tremors are concentrated in Puerto Rico.
The remaining areas are the Puerto Rico Trench that constitutes the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean around the country and the second on the entire planet, the North and South Slopes, the Hat Seismic Zone northeast of the island, the Passage of the Mona, the Canyón de la Mona, the Depression of the Virgin Islands and the Trench of the Dead.
“In our first assessment it is that these tremors are associated with the Falla de Montalva and more towards the Cañyón de la Guayanilla. We even have events that went in the direction of the Trench of the Dead, ”he explained.
The expert said that the southwest area of Puerto Rico is extremely seismically active due to several fault systems that converge there.
Although the events that are generally recorded in this area, known as the Great Fault of the South of Puerto Rico, are generally superficial, sometimes there are tremors of greater magnitude like those that occurred yesterday.
More tremors
Orphan said that after these earthworks the early morning and Sunday morning has passed with “tranquility”, although they continue to report tremors of lesser magnitude that exceed 150. This pattern could continue for the rest of the day, he said.
“After midnight it passed with peace of mind and we only had a couple of additional alarms, but the number of events has dropped a lot,” he said.
Orphan noted that not all recorded events appear on the seismic network’s cyber page because many are being processed and analyzed.
WhileThe expert indicated that he had knowledge of damages recorded in several municipalities, as well as an eviction in a community in Guánica after the tremors.
“That’s fine is fine because it shows that people are pending, but on the other hand there were people with panic and nervousness. The response process is not easy to face such events, ”he said.
Likewise, He called on citizens to review their emergency plans and stay informed through official agencies.
In case of a tremor, the three main techniques are to bend over, cover and hold.
“It is essential that people follow the official information because it is provided for additional comments not to follow this type of information,” he said.
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