From earthquakes of magnitude 4.8 and 4.37, with just three minutes of separation between the two, they shook the southwest area of Puerto Rico at 2:42 and 2:45 am today, Sunday.
The Puerto Rico Seismic Network recorded the epicenter of both events in the southeast tip of the Guánica Municipality.
A third tremor of magnitude 3.53, part of the sequence, was registered by the instruments of the Seismic Network at 3:30 am
There was no tsunami warning, warning or watch as a result of the tremors.
“We had a sequence continuity in seismic activity in southern Puerto Rico. It was a 4.8 event this morning, which brought with it an associated seismicity that continued throughout the morning. And in the morning we have seen related activity “, the director of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, Víctor Huérfano.
“Although it was 4.8, in Guánica he felt an intensity of 5 because of the energy he released,” he added. “It was felt throughout the island.”
According to Orphan, this earthquake was the strongest that has been felt in more than a month.
“The most recent one that had been like this was on May 2, when there was a 5.4 that caused damage in Ponce,” he said.
He also explained that the 4.37 earthquake and the others that have continued to be registered later are due to the 4.8 event “re-energizing” the area.
“We had a fair amount of alarms and events of importance. That happens when there is an event of moderate magnitude, as that event is considered. The sequence continues,” he explained.
Orphan said the epicenter was in the same area where the 6.4 earthquake was registered last January.
He added that he had already spoken with the Guánica Municipal Emergency Management Office, from which they indicated that at the moment there had been no damage associated with today’s event.
This event “is not (it is a surprise) really because it is within the proposed scenarios, and it will continue.”
According to the information provided by the Seismic Network, the epicenter of the first tremor was registered about six kilometers from the south-southwest coast of Guánica, and about 13 kilometers southeast of Lajas, with a depth of 11 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the information of the United States Geological Surveys (USGS) maintains that the second earthquake occurred at latitude 17,919 degrees north, longitude 66,906 degrees west, at a depth of 9.8 kilometers.
According to the Seismic Network, the 4.8 magnitude tremor had an estimated maximum intensity Level V in Guánica.
For its part, the USGS movement map showed that the tremors were felt in the southern, northern and western municipalities, although people in eastern towns such as Fajardo and Humacao also reported having felt the movement of the earth.
These tremors are the most recent in a series of earthquakes that started in December 2019 and have mainly affected the municipalities in the south and southwest areas.
The sequence began on December 28, 2019 with an earthquake of magnitude 4.7 and another of magnitude 5.0 the next day.
Meanwhile, the January 6 there was a tremor of magnitude 5.8, followed by a telluric movement of magnitude 6.4 on the morning of January 7.
The tremors have caused damages estimated at $ 8.3 billion, according to the first estimate presented by Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced to the federal government.
Before the event this morning, an earthquake of magnitude 4.63 was registered last Tuesday, June 23, although it was registered in the north of the island, near the Mona Canyon.
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