A series of earthquakes rocked both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic today; while they were felt through the region, they weren’t strong enough to produce a tsunami. As such, there is no tsunami threat as of now.
Of the 10 earthquakes that struck in the last 24 hours, 7 were a noticeable 2.5 or greater magnitude. The strongest, a 3.7, struck 2.5 miles east-southeast of La Parquera, Puerto Rico just after 1pm ET. An hour before. a 3.4 struck 38 miles north of San Antonio. Over night, a 3.1 and 3.4 earthquake also struck the south coast of Puerto Rico. A 3.7 also struck 30 miles northeast of Miches, Dominican Republic.
While some earthquakes struck north of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, most struck along the south coast of Puerto Rico where a strong earthquake hit in 2020. These earthquakes are likely continued aftershocks from that strong earthquake that struck the island in January 2020. That 6.4 created extensive damage in Puerto Rico, including widespread power failures across much of the island. An earthquake swarm started here in December 2019 and unrest has continued since.
These earthquakes are occurring near the northern edge of the Caribbean Plate, a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off of the north coast of South America. The Caribbean Plate borders the North American Plate, the South American Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Cocos Plate. The borders of these plates are home to ongoing seismic activity, including frequent earthquakes, occasional tsunamis, and sometimes even volcanic eruptions.
While the La Soufriere volcano continues to erupt on the island of St. Vincent, that eruption is not directly tied to any seismic activity happening on the other side of the Caribbean Plate near Puerto Rico.
