The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 but has been assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey to be a magnitude 5.9. It hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Indios at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers).
Today’s quake was the strongest one yet since the magnitude 6.4 quake that hit the island on Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, says power outages have been reported across much of southern Puerto Rico and crews were assessing possible damage at power plants.
As of Friday, about 95 percent of the power had been restored across the island territory, however, parts of Lares, Adjuntas, Ponce and San German lost power after Saturday’s quake. Since December 28, about 2,000 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher have hit Puerto Rico, about 60 of which were felt.
NASA reported Friday that the quakes had moved the land in parts of southern Puerto Rico as much as 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), based on satellite images before and after the temblors.
Víctor Huérfano, director of Puerto Rico’s Seismic Network, told the AP there will be even more aftershocks after this morning’s big one. “It’s going to re-energize an unstable situation,” he said, adding that seismologists are studying which faults were activated. “It’s a complex zone.”
