Due to a swarm of earthquakes, nine mission volunteers from Montana were advised to return from Puerto Rico after just landing last week. They were on a mission trip to help after the December 2019 earthquake.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), more than 1,000 earthquakes have affected Puerto Rico since December. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake southwest of Puerto Rico on Jan. 11 was the latest in a series of strong earthquakes in the same region over the past 2 weeks. This sequence began with a magnitude 4.7 earthquake late on Dec. 28 and a M 5.0 event a few hours later. The largest event in this sequence to date is a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Jan. 7, which was preceded a day earlier by a magnitude 5.8 event.
Since the late December 2019, close to 1,000 magnitude 2+ earthquakes have occurred in this region (400 since the magnitude 6.4 on Jan. 7, the current mainshock), 50 of which were magnitude 4+ (39 since current mainshock), and eight of which were magnitude 5+ (5 since mainshock). The proximity of these events to Puerto Rico, and their shallow depth, mean that many of the M3 and above earthquakes have likely been felt on land.
Mountain Sky Appointment Announcements
Learn more
