The 2010 Aguas Buenas earthquake, also referred to as the 2010 Christmas Eve earthquake (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Temblor de

Nochebuena Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

de 2010''), occurred on December 24 at 7:43 p.m. local time in

Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico Aguas Buenas (, ), popularly known as "''La Ciudad de las Aguas Claras''" or "''The City of Clear Waters''", is a Aguas Buenas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Cordillera Central ( ...

. It measured 5.1 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...

and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (''Strong''). The event was the largest in Puerto Rico since

May 16th Events Pre-1600 * 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan. *1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. *1364 ...

of the same year, and the largest to impact the San Juan metropolitan area since 1975. The earthquake was felt throughout the island of Puerto Rico, the island municipalities of

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico, and together with Culebra, it is geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques lies about east of the mainland of Puerto Rico, measuri ...

and Culebra, the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

, and even in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

across the

Mona Passage The Mona Passage () is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal. The Mona Pas ...

Earthquake

The shock originated in the Great Northern Puerto Rico fault zone (GNPRfz) in the central eastern mountainous region of the island between the Juan Asencio and Sonadora barrios of Aguas Buenas, about 7 miles (11 km) from

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to ...

and 14 miles (23 km) from

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. This fault zone is located in the boundary between the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...

and Caribbean plate tectonics, on a complex geologic zone with both

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...

and strike faults. It was initially reported as measuring 5.4 on the

Richter magnitude scale The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...

. The main shock was followed by two

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

s (4.8 and 4.7) about 30 minutes after. Given its moderate size and its epicenter being located on land, the earthquake did not cause any

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

. The strongest shaking was felt in the municipalities of Aguas Buenas, Bayamón,

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

and

, and moderate to strong shaking was felt throughout the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

. There were more than 4,000 initial entries on the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

and the

Puerto Rico Seismic Network Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...

"''Did you feel it?'' reports". The earthquake was felt by most due to its epicenter on land close to some of the major urban areas of Puerto Rico and the fact that it hit during

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

celebrations when people are usually gathered in large family groups, often indoors or attending church services. There were more than 50 emergency calls in Bayamón and

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city and municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Located west of the capital San Juan, east of Bayamón, south of Cataño and San Juan Bay, and north of Aguas Buenas, Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrio ...

Damage

The earthquake was widely felt throughout Puerto Rico and the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

. There were initial reports of limited localized damages throughout the island, particularly in the municipalities of

Adjuntas Adjuntas () is a small mountainside Adjuntas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, no ...

, Aguas Buenas,

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

, Arroyo,

Ceiba ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall ...

, Coamo,

Fajardo Fajardo () is a Fajardo barrio-pueblo, town and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality part of the San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area, San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area in Puerto Rico. Fajardo is the hub of mu ...

Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

, Juncos, Las Marías, Las Piedras, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Patillas, Salinas and

. There were reports of power outages in Aguas Buenas and Caguas. There were no deaths or major damages and there were no reports of life-threatening injuries.

References

{{Reflist

External links

M 5.1 - 3 km W of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
-

(English)
Informe especial de la Red Sismica de Puerto Rico
- RSPR (Spanish) 2010 earthquakes 2010 in Puerto Rico 2010 natural disasters in the United States December 2010 in the United States Earthquakes in Puerto Rico Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico

Earthquake

Damage

See also

References

External links