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Puerto Ricans Left Homeless After Biggest Quake in Century

VOA News — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 20:24:07 +0000

Neighbors remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks on their first night after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2020.

GUANICA, PUERTO RICO – Cars, cots and plastic chairs became temporary beds for hundreds of families who lost their homes in southwest Puerto Rico as a flurry of earthquakes struck the island, one of them the strongest in a century.

The magnitude 6.4 quake that struck before dawn on Tuesday killed one person, injured nine others and knocked out power across the U.S. territory. More than 250,000 Puerto Ricans remained without water on Wednesday and another half a million without power, which also affected telecommunications.

In addition, more than 1,000 people were staying in government shelters in the island’s southwest region as U.S. President Donald Trump declared an emergency and Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez activated the National Guard.

The hardest-hit municipality was the southwest coastal town of Guanica. More than 200 people had taken shelter in a gymnasium after a quake on Monday, only for the latest shake to damage that structure — forcing them to sleep outside.

Among them was 80-year-old Lupita Martinez, who sat in the dusty parking lot with her 96-year-old husband by her side. He was sleeping in a makeshift bed, a dark blue coat covering him.

“There’s no power. There’s no water. There is nothing. This is horrible,” Martinez said.

The couple was alone, lamenting that their caretaker had disappeared and was not answering their calls. Like many Puerto Ricans affected by the quake, they had children in the U.S. mainland who urged them to move there, at least until the earth stops shaking.

Governor Wanda Vazquez inspects an earthquake-damaged house in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. A 5.8-magnitude quake hit Puerto Rico before dawn Monday, unleashing small landslides, causing power outages and severely cracking some homes. …

While officials said it was too early to estimate the total damage caused by the string of quakes that began the night of Dec. 28, they said hundreds of homes and businesses in the southwest region were damaged or destroyed. Just in Guanica, a town of roughly 15,000 people, nearly 150 homes were affected by the quake, along with three schools, including one three-story structure whose first two floors were completely flattened.

In Guanica itself, “We are confronting a crisis worse than Hurricane Maria,” said Mayor Santos Seda, referring to the 2017 storm that devastated the island. “I am asking for empathy from the federal government.”

He said officials believe the homes of 700 families in his municipality are close to collapsing.

Tuesday’s quake was the strongest to hit Puerto Rico since October 1918, when a magnitude 7.3 quake struck near the island’s northwest coast, unleashing a tsunami and killing 116 people.

More than 950 quakes and aftershocks have been recorded in the area of Tuesday night’s event since Dec. 31, though most were too weak to be felt, according to U.S. Geologic Survey.

The USGS said that while it’s virtually certain there will be many aftershocks in the next week, the chance of a magnitude 6 quake — similar to Tuesday’s — or stronger is around 22 percent.

In Guanica, some people dragged mattresses outside their homes or set up small tents.

Authorities were trying to figure out where to shelter them all as they handed out blankets, food, and water to families gathered at the gymnasium for a second night in a row. Many had their belongings in large garbage bags as they sat haphazardly on unstable plastic chairs. Some slept. Others cradled their dogs and many simply stared listlessly into the distance. One elderly man spent an entire day in his wheelchair, refusing to lay down on a cot.

Meanwhile, a handful of people slept in their cars, in chairs or on the ground as cots ran out.
“Now I’m afraid of the house,” said 49-year-old Lourdes Guilbe as she wiped away tears and confided that she felt overwhelmed caring for the nearly dozen relatives gathered around her, including her more than 90-year-old grandfather, who sat in a wheelchair wearing green pajamas and socks.

Guilbe said her home is cracked and her daughter’s home collapsed, so they weren’t sure where they would live in upcoming days.

Psychologists met with Guilbe and dozens of other people affected by the earthquakes, going door-to-door on Monday in affected neighborhoods and then visiting people in shelters on Tuesday. Among them was Dayleen Ortiz, who set up a speaker on the roof of her car to blast uplifting salsa music and provided crayons and paper to children and urged adults to shake their fears.

“There is a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “We don’t know if this is going to continue.”

One young girl tapped Ortiz on her leg repeatedly: “I want to play beautician,” she said.

Ortiz dug behind cases of water bottles, chairs, and blankets in her car and produced eight small new nail polishes and the girl smiled wide. It’s a trick the psychologist learned to entertain children after Hurricane Maria hit, causing an estimated 2,975 deaths and more than $100 billion in estimated damage.

Reconstruction has been slow, and the earthquake was the newest blow to an island where thousands of people have been living under blue tarps since the hurricane and the power grid remains fragile.

“I can’t stand this,” said 64-year-old Zenaida Rodriguez as she sat under a tree and the ground again rumbled. “Did you feel that?”

Source: https://www.voanews.com/americas/puerto-ricans-left-homeless-after-biggest-quake-century

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Puerto Rico hit with 6.5 magnitude earthquake, island-wide blackout reported

David Aaro | Fox News — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 13:36:47 +0000

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake was registered off the coast of Puerto Rico on Tuesday that reportedly caused an island-wide blackout.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit just south of the island at a shallow depth of roughly 6 miles. A tsunami warning was not issued. There was no immediate report of injuries or damage.

Jose Ortiz, the CEO of the Electric Power Authority in Puerto Rico, confirmed there’s damage to the Central Costa Sur power plant in the southern part of the island and they expect the system to reenergize later today. The authority said all of their power plants had gone offline due to a self-protective feature that was activated following the earthquake.

rob@rosesweave

Destructions of what the 6.5 earthquake brought to the south of Puerto Rico. we are scared.

CaribNews@caribnews

PR Emergency Manager confirms that an islandwide blackout is happening across the island.

The latest earthquake comes less than 24 hours after a 5.8 magnitude quake struck before dawn on Monday. The earlier quake caused damage to the coastal town of Guanica. It also destroyed the famous Punta Ventana stone arch, an iconic landmark described as a “natural wonder.”

Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vázquez Garced asked residents to remain calm and safe as they receive updates from local emergency departments.

NWS PTWC@NWS_PTWC

No tsunami threat to #PRVI from a nearby magnitude 6.6 #earthquake http://tsunami.gov #PTWC

The flurry of quakes in Puerto Rico’s southern region began the night of Dec. 28. Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Rico’s Seismic Network, told The Associated Press that shallow quakes were occurring along three faults in Puerto Rico’s southwest region: Lajas Valley, Montalva Point and the Guayanilla Canyon.

LOUISIANA COUPLE DEAD IN PUERTO RICO AFTER CATAMARAN CATCHES FIRE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

He said the quakes overall come as the North American plate and the Caribbean plate squeeze Puerto Rico.

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One of the largest and most damaging earthquakes to hit Puerto Rico occurred in October 1918, when a magnitude 7.3 quake struck near the island’s northwest coast, unleashing a tsunami and killing 116 people.

The Associated Press contributed to the report.

David Aaro is a Reporter at Fox News Digital based in New York City.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/6-6-magnitude-earthquake-rattles-puerto-rico

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The post Puerto Rico hit with 6.5 magnitude earthquake, island-wide blackout reported first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

At least 5 dead as another quake jolts southern Philippines

Raul Dancel Philippines Correspondent In Manila — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 20:19:55 +0000

A powerful earthquake hammered the southern Philippines early yesterday, killing at least five people and rattling areas already reeling from two tremors in the past two weeks.

The 6.5-magnitude quake struck at around 9 am in Mindanao, an island the size of South Korea. Pictures and videos on social media showed parts of a hotel and a condominium caving in, patients being wheeled out of a hospital, and rescuers digging through the rubble.

A village elder died in Makilala town in Cotabato province when a two-story building he was in collapsed. Cotabato Governor Emmylou Talino-Mendoza said four other people died elsewhere in the town – a seven-year-old was crushed by a cinder block while the rest were caught in a landslide.

In Kidapawan City, Cotabato, one side of a hotel was left-leaning on a hospital. The hotel had been damaged in earlier quakes and did not have guests. Six employees and an engineer inspecting the building managed to run out said city mayor Joseph Evangelista.

A five-story condominium in Davao City crashed. Nine residents were saved but others could still be trapped inside, said police.

President Rodrigo Duterte was in his home city of Davao when the quake struck. Photos of cracks on his bedroom walls were sent by his aide Christopher Go to reporters. “He’s safe,” said Mr. Go. The President was in Davao for a public holiday to remember the dead.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake was set off by movement in a local fault at a depth of 6km, about 28km east of Tulunan town in Cotabato.

Mindanao was hit by two quakes last month: a 6.6-magnitude quake on Oct 29, and a 6.3-magnitude quake on Oct 16. Citing “inter-related active faults” in Mindanao, Phivolcs said: “We expect small to moderate-magnitude earthquakes to occur in the epicentral area which may continue for several days to weeks.”

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 01, 2019, with the headline ‘At least 5 dead as another quake jolts the southern Philippines’. Print Edition | Subscribe

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/at-least-5-dead-as-another-quake-jolts-southern-philippines

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The post At least 5 dead as another quake jolts southern Philippines first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.