Many Puerto Ricans slept outside and woke up to an island still largely without power Wednesday after a string of earthquakes rocked their homes in recent days.
The worst quake – a magnitude 6.4 that struck early Tuesday – killed at least one person, injured at least nine others and caused the power outage that has left a majority of the U.S. territory without electricity.
Hundreds of buildings have also been damaged or are close to crumbling, forcing people to pull their beds into the streets in fear that an aftershock could flatten their homes.
“There’s no power. There’s no water. There is nothing. This is horrible,” 80-year-old Lupita Martínez told the Associated Press as she sat in a parking lot with her husband.
According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, there have been more than 950 earthquakes and aftershocks recorded in the area as of Tuesday night since Dec. 31, though many were weak and could not be felt.
U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Tuesday aid had been made available to help the recovery efforts after President Donald Trump signed an emergency declaration.
“All of Puerto Rico has seen the devastation of this earthquake,” Gov. Wanda Vázquez told Reuters. Vázquez took office in August in the wake of massive protests and scandals that led Ricardo Rosselló to step down.
Vázquez also declared an emergency and mobilized the national guard as roughly 750 people were in government shelters, many in the southwest of the island.
