The aftermath of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that killed one person, injured nine others and severely damaged infrastructure in Puerto Rico’s southwest coast is deepening as the island’s government says it is overwhelmed.
Many in the affected area are comparing the situation to Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm that hit in September 2017, as hundreds of families who are unable to return to their damaged homes wonder where they will stay in upcoming weeks and months as hope fades of electricity being restored soon.
“We have to remain outside because everything inside is destroyed,” said 84-year-old Brunilda Sanchez, who has been sleeping outdoors in a government-supplied cot in the southwest coastal town of Guanica. “We don’t know how long we’ll have to stay here.”
Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump declared an emergency in Puerto Rico several hours after Tuesday’s quake hit, a move that frees up federal funds via the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for things ranging from transportation to medical care to mobile generators.
However, some local officials worry that the help will not arrive soon enough.
“FEMA is a very bureaucratic agency and it moves very slowly. So slowly that we’re still waiting for federal funds from Maria,” Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority director of generation Daniel Hernandez told reporters.
FEMA has already pledged to bring mobile generators to bolster the company’s biggest plant, which is near the island’s southern coast where the quake hit and is severely damaged, Hernandez said.
It is unclear how quickly the plant can be repaired, he said, adding that a damage assessment is ongoing, although some officials estimated it could take up to one year to repair.
Complicating efforts to restore power are strong aftershocks, with more than 40 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher since Tuesday’s quake, experts said.
Every time it shakes, personnel have to evacuate and further damage to the plant’s infrastructure is feared, Hernandez said.
Power company director Jose Ortiz said he expects nearly all customers to have electricity by early next week.
Preliminary assessments show that at least US$50 million in damage occurred, Ortiz said.
On Thursday, transportation officials closed a portion of one of Puerto Rico’s busiest highways because of what they called serious structural failures related to the quake.
Both directions of Highway 52, which runs from the capital, San Juan, to the southern coastal city of Ponce were indefinitely closed near Ponce.
Meanwhile, aftershocks have led to a rise in the number of people seeking shelter in southwest Puerto Rico as government officials continue to inspect homes and public housing complexes.
Puerto Rico Department of Housing Secretary Fernando Gil urged people to stay with family or in shelters if they felt unsafe in their homes as the government relocated more than two dozen people from damaged residences.
“Meanwhile, we will continue to identify what kind of help is needed to support all affected families,” Gil said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese