Puerto Rico hit by strong 5.5-magnitude earthquake

Puerto Rico residents felt the ground shaking under their feet on Saturday, after a powerful 5.5-magnitude quake hit the unincorporated US territory, followed by several aftershocks. Some damage was reported on the ground.

The initial quake was recorded 11 km from Tallaboa, a small community in the south of the island, the USGS reported. A series of less powerful seismic events in the area followed within an hour.

Footage purportedly shot in the aftermath of the quake shows damaged buildings.

Other images show rocks from a landslide sending clouds of dust into the air over a nearby road.

Photos from the port of Ponce, which is located about 10km east of Tallaboa, showed streets littered with rubble from a damaged building.

The quake also caused some damage to a power line connecting Ponce with Penuelas in the west, causing an outage, the local energy authority said. The malfunction has since been repaired.

The Saturday quake is the latest in a series that has been affecting Puerto Rico since December 2019, killing and injuring several people and prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency after a 6.4 magnitude shoсk in January.