Population & Economic Dynamics in Puerto Rico

Geology and Impact of Earthquakes in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

Puerto Rico is located on a highly active tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate. The high frequency of seismic activity is primarily driven by the complex interaction of these plates at two major offshore zones:

• Puerto Rico Trench (North): Where the North American Plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate, forming the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Muertos Trough (South): An incipient subduction zone where the Caribbean Plate isbeing thrust southward, creating complex faulting, particularly along the southern and western coasts.

This ongoing tectonic stress results in numerous earthquakes, though most are microquakes (M < 2.0). However, the region has a history of damaging events, most recently the 2019-2020 earthquake swarm, which included a Magnitude 6.4 shock on January 7, 2020.

Socio-Economic Impact of Recent Quakes:

• Infrastructure Damage: The 2020 quakes caused widespread power outages, affecting nearly a million people, and severely damaged key infrastructure like the Costa Sur power plant.
• Displacement: Thousands of residents, particularly in the southern municipalities (Guánica, Yauco, Ponce), were displaced, with initial damage estimates reaching $3.1 billion.
• Cascading Effects: Recovery efforts were complicated by existing damage from Hurricane Maria and subsequent mental health, housing, and economic instability.