Page 12 - AT

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 15 January 2020
Experts warn Puerto Rico not prepared for big earthquakes

By DANICA COTO be proactive, and we saw plete a plan that dictates
Associated Press that was not the case until protocol for when an earth-
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) they were up to their neck quake hits the island.
— More than two years in water." Juan Alicea, president of
ago, Hurricane Maria re- Lugo, a former emergen- Puerto Rico's Society of Pro-
vealed that Puerto Rico cy management director fessional Engineers, told the
was utterly unprepared for for Puerto Rico, told The AP that he received a draft
a powerful hurricane de- Associated Press that the of the plan only on Jan. 5.
spite its location in one of government didn't acti- "I see that as a failure," he
the world's most storm-vul- vate its emergency com- said. "We all have to as-
nerable regions. mand center until the day sume our responsibilities."
Now, a flurry of earthquakes after the largest quake hit, Acevedo did not return
topped by a magnitude breaking with protocol. messages for comment
6.4 temblor that killed one This drew comparisons to and has insisted that Puer-
person and damaged hun- Hurricane Maria of 2017, to Rico is prepared in case
dreds of buildings has many which devastated the is- The Immaculate Concepcion Catholic church stands damaged another big quake strikes.
accusing the government land and caused thou- after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake, following a previous Von Hillebrandt partially
of being caught unready sands of deaths. Critics earthquake earlier in the week that collapsed part of the agreed with that assess-
again. said it caught the local structure in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020. ment, noting that local
"It proved that Puerto and federal governments Associated Press officials had identified all
Rico is not prepared for a with limited supplies on an nization. mation landmark struck on tsunami risk zones by 2003
seismic movement," said island with poorly main- A flurry of hundreds of small Jan. 6, Three Kings' Day, a and completed evacua-
Nazario Lugo, president tained infrastructure and quakes began hitting Puer- major holiday on the island. tion maps in 2015. By 2016,
of the island's Association led to a delayed response to Rico on Dec. 28, and "The first day, when toys all coastal communities in
of Emergency Managers. stemming from a lack of a magnitude 5.8 jolt that were being handed out, Puerto Rico were certified
"The government has to communication and orga- toppled a famed rock for- they should have started as being ready for a tsu-
a process to activate the nami.
emergency plan," he said. In October 1918, a magni-
That didn't happen until tude 7.3 quake struck near
Tuesday's 6.4 earthquake Puerto Rico's northwest
hit before dawn. It knocked coast, unleashing a tsuna-
out power to the entire is- mi and killing 116 people.
land, collapsed several While concerns remain
homes and schools and about Puerto Rico's pre-
cracked bridges. Many paredness, federal authori-
living along the southern ties have praised the local
coastline were left without government's response.
water service and more Jeff Byard, with the U.S.
than 4,900 people sought Federal Emergency Man-
refuge in government shel- agement Agency, said he
ters. is extremely pleased with
While many Puerto Ricans the post-quake operation.
were surprised, scientists "I cannot commend the
were not, including Christa commonwealth enough
von Hillebrandt, former di- for the proactive nature
rector of the island's Seis- that they've taken provid-
mic Network and manager ing the initial resources, the
of the National Oceanic initial support," he said.
and Atmospheric Adminis- More than 1,280 earth-
tration's Caribbean tsuna- quakes have hit Puerto Ri-
mi warning program. co's southern region since
"For decades, scientists Dec. 28, more than two
and people like me have dozen of them magnitude
been informing and alert- 4.5 or greater, accord-
ing communities and the ing to the U.S. Geological
government of Puerto Rico Survey."If we don't take ac-
of the physical threat," she tion, this is going to cost us
said. "In the past 30 years, a lot of money and a lot of
seismic conscience defi- lives," he said.
nitely improved in Puerto Also of concern is that some
Rico, but not much action 500 public schools across
was taken. ... You would Puerto Rico were built be-
see some improvements, fore 1987 and don't adhere
but some critical areas did to new construction codes,
not receive sufficient atten- placing students at risk, ac-
tion." cording to Alicea. He said
Just days after the natural the government has invest-
disaster, emergency man- ed money to bring many
agement Director Carlos other schools up to date,
Acevedo acknowledged but the remaining ones
to reporters that the gov- are not built to withstand
ernment had yet to com- earthquakes.q