Puerto Rico Reeling After A Powerful New 6.4 Earthquake

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.

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.

“The people are scared,” Meléndez said. “There are homes that are totally destroyed.”

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

“It’s not safe,” Meléndez said. “The earth is moving constantly.”

A 60-year-old city employee begged for help from the mainland.

Reynaldo González, the late Martínez’s nephew, told local news media that the apartment, in the Jardines del Caribe neighborhood, was undergoing construction work, and the bathroom wall next to Martínez’s bed collapsed on him as he was apparently getting up, Gónzalez told WAPA Radio.

“We heard a roar” at the time of the quake, González said, but it was not until later, when his father called out to Martínez, that they realized what had happened.

Widespread power outages were reported, including in San Juan, the capital. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority said all of its power plants had gone offline after its “auto protection” systems had been activated. The utility reported damage to one of its main plants near the earthquake’s epicenter but said it hoped to restore electricity elsewhere later Tuesday.

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.

Gov. Wanda Vázquez excused nonessential public employees from work for the day. Mayor Nelson Torres Yordán of Guayanilla said on the radio that there was a lot of fear on the streets. “There’s hysteria,” he told a local television station.

The Immaculate Conception church in the center of town partially collapsed. The Rev. Melvin Díaz Aponte said both bell towers crumbled. The nave stands, but it is fragile, he said. A member of the congregation interrupted him. Then another aftershock.

“We will rebuild,” he reassured the woman.

“For those who have lived here their whole lives, this is their history,” Díaz said. “Their sacraments, their wedding.”

Puerto Ricans ran out of their homes before dawn after being shaken awake by the quake. Officials urged people to stay calm and remain at home, but many people still got into their cars and drove to higher ground, prompting unusually heavy traffic in some areas in the dark. Many homes and buildings in southern coastal towns partially crumbled or sustained serious damage.

Hospital patients, some of them in wheelchairs, were evacuated to a parking lot in the city of Ponce. Patients at Hospital Damas were going back into the building when the biggest aftershock hit, forcing them to evacuate again, the NotiCentro television station reported.

On Monday, a 5.8-magnitude quake and aftershocks terrified residents, leveled homes and destroyed a well-known natural rock formation. Smaller tremors have been occurring since the night of Dec. 28 and into the morning, all clustered in the same offshore area.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .