An earthquake of magnitude 6 has struck 14 kilometers south-east of Guanica, Puerto rico, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday.
Puerto Rico has been rattled by temblors throughout the week, including a 6.4 magnitude quake Tuesday that killed at least one man, destroyed homes and left most of the island without power. A 5.2 magnitude aftershock struck on Friday afternoon.
The US territory was expecting power to return to its 3 million residents by Saturday, and authorities had tweeted that it was 95% restored a couple of hours before Saturday’s quake. Parts of Lares, Adjuntas, Ponce and San German lost power after Saturday’s quake, said the power company Electric Energy Authority.
On Friday two strong aftershocks collapsed homes and cracked walls in Puerto Rico on Friday as the Caribbean island tried to recover from its worst earthquake in more than a century. The first quake of magnitude 5.2 struck at 6:26 p.m. (5:26 p.m. EST), followed by another of magnitude 4.8 about four hours later, both centred on the island’s southwest coast, the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) said.
The quakes were felt as far north as the capital San Juan, and a spokesman for the town of Guayanilla told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper they caused more homes and buildings to collapse in the hard-hit community.
Since December 28, about 500 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher have hit Puerto Rico, the USGS said.
The territory is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017.
