Earthquake in Puerto Rico

An Overview of the history of earthquake in Puerto Rico,

On 11 October 1918, the western coast of the island was hit by a major earthquake, which is famous in the area, and caused a tsunami. In 1953, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was affected by the Santo Domingo earthquake. The 1918 earthquake was caused by an old left-lateral strike-slip fault near the Mona passage. The actual subduction zone(Puerto Rico Trench) hasn't ruptured in over 200 years, a major concern to Geophysicists.

Puerto Rico in particular has always been an area of concern to earthquake experts because, apart from the 1918 episode, there are frequent cases of tremors in and around the island. A 1981 tremor was felt across the island, while another in 1985 was felt in the towns of Cayey and Salinas.

And once again an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico early Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake hit at 1:16 a.m. (0516 GMT) four miles (six kilometers) from the small community of Espino on the western side of the island and 63 miles (101 kilometers) from the capital, San Juan. It was recorded at a depth of 68 miles (110 kilometers).

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said it did not expect a tsunami, but local tsunamis triggered by underwater landslides were possible in coastal areas close to the epicenter.



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