Puerto Rico 2019–2020 Earthquake Sequence and Tsunami Impact

Session: Early Results from the 2020 M6.4 Indios, Puerto Rico Earthquake Sequence [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/30/2020
Time: 08:00 AM
Room: Ballroom
Description: 

The January 7, 2020 M 6.4 earthquake and tsunami response in Puerto Rico provides the opportunity to identify the strengths and gaps of the tsunami warning system. Over the past 25 years in Puerto Rico there has been a continual rise in tsunami awareness; tsunamis stopped being the “forgotten danger”. Initial efforts focused on education, outreach, tsunami modeling and evacuation mapping using mostly the historical earthquakes and tsunamis of 1867 and 1918 as a backdrop. As of 2003, the US National Weather Service (NWS) tsunami warning centers began providing tsunami services for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in coordination with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, the NWS San Juan Forecast Office and the Puerto State Emergency Management Bureau. Tsunami protocols and alert levels were established. The Indian Ocean (2004), Chile (2010) and Tohoku (2011) created a new levels of awareness of the destructive power of these events. Thru the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program and TsunamiReady®, tsunami evacuation mapping, education and planning has focused on the 46 municipalities with a tsunami risk. The M 6.4 earthquake put to test all the efforts. For the first time in 101 years, a very strong earthquake was felt. The response varied, with evacuations taking place in many communities. The four main triggers for the actions seemed to have been strong ground shaking, the PTWC tsunami information statement, the locally issued tsunami advisory and/or the sounding of sirens. Postings in social media and microblogging sites commenting about the M 6.4 earthquake and the 5.8 foreshock on January 6 are being used to document the tsunami response. The analysis of randomly selected published responses and their content in terms of type of comment, media, length and tone of response, writing style and emerging themes will be presented. The relevance of these findings along with other information on response actions, the tsunami warning system and risk communication for local earthquakes and tsunamis will be discussed.

Presenting Author: Christa Von Hillebrandt-Andrade

Authors