Puerto Rico Governor Declares Emergency After New 6.4 Earthquake

The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, declared a state of emergency throughout Puerto Rico and activated the National Guard.

“In 102 years, Puerto Rico had not experienced anything like this,” she said.

The 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck 5 miles southwest of Tallaboa on Puerto Rico’s southwestern coast, was recorded at 4:24 a.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was the second consecutive day that an earthquake hit the island before dawn, terrifying residents scared about the cumulative effect on older buildings that may be unsafe.

The governor warned that the seismic activity is expected to continue in the coming days, as most of the island struggles with the massive power outage. The outage also left nearly a third of the island without running water.

The governor warned people whose houses do not meet building codes to seek shelter. About 255 people were already staying in shelters Tuesday.

Nelson Martínez Guillén, 73, died in the city of Ponce after a wall fell on him, Mayor Mayita Meléndez said. Another woman suffered a broken leg after she was pinned under a wall.

Tremors keep moving through the region, and people living near the beaches are desperate to get out of their homes for fear of tsunamis, Meléndez said.

Angel Vázquez Torres, director of emergency management in Ponce, said nine people were injured in the city during the earthquake, including a woman who was trapped in her home for three hours after a wall collapsed on her, pinning her leg.

The widespread power outages included San Juan, the capital.

The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no related tsunami threat. Local authorities initially issued a tsunami watch before canceling it, according to Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency.

The quake’s magnitude was initially reported as 6.6 and later downgraded. Three strong aftershocks with preliminary estimates of 5.6, 5.2 and 4.5 magnitude followed the big quake. A bigger aftershock, of 5.8 magnitude, hit at 7:18 a.m. local time.

Vázquez excused nonessential public employees from work for the day.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .