A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Puerto Rico late Monday, scaring many from their sleep in the U.S territory.
The quake felt across Puerto Rico was the strongest to hit the island in recent years.
46-year-old San Juan resident, Yahaida Zabala was asleep when she felt her building sway around 11:23 pm on Monday. She and her son and a small group of people stood outside their building awaiting aftershocks.
The spokeswoman for the island’s Emergency Management Agency, Kiara Hernandez, told the Associated Press that there were no immediate reports of damage and no risk of a tsunami.
Emergency management officials were already on alert for approaching Tropical Depression Karen and communicated quickly with mayors and others across the island to check for any damage.
Weather forecast for Puerto Rico on Tuesday foresaw heavy rains with warnings of possible landslides and flooding. This pushed for the National Guard to be activated for the storm as schools and government offices remained closed.
Hernandez said crews would be inspecting buildings to ensure their safety.
“We will know this information little by little,” she said.
The last strong earthquake to hit the island occurred in 2014 when a 6.4 magnitude temblor struck north of the island’s north coast. That quake broke a few windows, cracked floors and walls, damaged water lines and knocked out power to sections of the island.
Seismologists explain that it’s rare for big earthquakes to hit the island that experiences small earthquakes on a daily basis though are not usually felt.
The worst earthquake to hit Puerto Rico occurred in October 1918. A magnitude 7.3 quake struck near the island’s northwest coast causing a tsunami killing 116 people.
