Week 3: Earthquakes

Although Puerto Rico has historically had moderate seismicity, the territory is tectonically active, thus rare big earthquakes are to be expected. A total of 576 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck within 300 kilometers (186 mi) of Puerto Rico in the past 10 years. This comes down to a yearly average of 57 earthquakes per year, or 4 per month. On average an earthquake will hit near Puerto Rico roughly every 6 days.

 

The spread of seismicity southwest of Puerto Rico in December 2019 and January 2020 is depicted in the above graph. According to the time of the earthquake in relation to December 28, 2019, earthquake symbols are colored and sized by magnitude.

Seismic activity is depicted on the map above as orange circles and seismic monitoring stations as triangles. Recent upgrades to seismic stations are shown in red.

In order to avoid a catastrophic earthquake:

Through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has asked the states of California and New York for help. The teams will offer technical support for building evaluations and inspections, as well as for the management and disposal of debris in the earthquake-affected districts.

The limited infrastructure evaluation, security/reconnaissance activities, evacuation support, and route clearance operations are all being helped by the Puerto Rico National Guard. To help, more teams are on their way.

Six temporary seismometers are being placed by the USGS along the coastline around the epicenters of the earthquakes. The ability to describe and anticipate earthquakes will be improved by data from aftershock monitoring devices.

As the complicated and ongoing recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria continues, FEMA continues to assist the government of Puerto Rico. It also works to ensure that everyone is better prepared for catastrophes that could affect the island at all levels.

References: 

https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/magnitude-64-earthquake-puerto-rico

https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20230425/fema-and-other-federal-agencies-supporting-earthquake-response-puerto-rico

https://earthquakelist.org/puerto-rico/