Updated Jan 25, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Puerto Rico hit by magnitude-5.0 earthquake

Rebecca Falconer

Workers clean the debris from the Immaculate Conception Church after 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on January 11 — Workers clean the debris from the Immaculate Conception Church after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on Jan. 11. Photo: Pedro Alejandro Granadillo Hernanadez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A magnitude-5.0 earthquake struck the southern coast of Puerto Rico Saturday, per the U.S. Geological Survey.

The big picture: Gov. Wanda Vázquez declared a state of emergency on Jan. 7 after two earthquakes measuring magnitudes of 6.4 and 5.8 hit the U.S. territory. The island has been rocked by a series of tremors since.

What's new: The latest quake hit at a depth of eight miles "around the southern coastal town of Guayanilla, located close to the epicenters of most of the recent earthquakes," AP reports. "At least one small landslide was reported."

On Friday, hundreds of people were forced to evacuate earthquake shelters after heavy rains caused flooding in the south, per AP.

Go deeper: In photos: Puerto Rico in state of emergency after back-to-back quakes

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Add Axios on Google

Puerto Rico hit by magnitude-5.0 earthquake

What to read next