Earthquakes in Puerto Rico 12/17/11

Several earthquakes in the wee hours of the morning...starting at 2:06 with the first large one, a 5.1 on the Richter scale followed by a 5.4 three minutes later, and then a few minutes later the third a 3.0. Actually according to the USGS, there were four after shocks, after the larger 5.3. The 2.8 one being the latest. All of them being are pretty shallow relatively, with the deepest one at 17.2 miles in depth. Data from the USGS is as follows:

MAP	2.8	2011/12/17 09:48:34	18.188	-67.372	11.8	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP	4.7	2011/12/17 08:48:19	45.388	147.555	162.4	KURIL ISLANDS
MAP	2.6	2011/12/17 07:34:48	18.191	-67.342	17.2	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP	3.2	2011/12/17 06:45:56	18.184	-67.394	7.6	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP	3.0	2011/12/17 06:14:20	18.186	-67.319	7.2	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP	2.6	2011/12/17 06:09:23	33.786	-116.707	18.5	SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP	5.3	2011/12/17 06:09:09	18.172	-67.371	17.0	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP	5.1	2011/12/17 06:06:12	18.188	-67.370	14.0	MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO

It seems like Puerto Rico is a spout for excess energy, and as I follow these earthquakes pretty much on a regular basis, if there is no release of energy on a daily basis around Puerto Rico and the Virgen Islands, as in small quakes of 2.0 and up to 3.1, we will see earthquakes in the extended regions such as Colombia and Mexico.

I suppose it was Puerto Rico's turn to have the folds in the earth straightened out. I just hope there is not going to be a larger one coming and we can have a nice Christmas vacation.

Apparently a lot of people felt it, things fell off furniture and walls, the earth groaned, and people were shaken about. It reminds me of last year's Christmas eve earthquake of 5.4 in Aguas Buenas which I felt in Carolina, Puerto Rico. It was not a nice feeling let me tell you! It is something you do not soon forget.

To read the story at El Nuevo Dia, the local Spanish newspaper go here.

To see maps and information from the USGS in other words the US Geological Service go here.