Post #1

At dawn on January 7, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred in the southern seas of Puerto Rico.

 The Associated Press reported that an uncomfortable man was killed in a collapsed housing debris and that at least eight people were injured in the coastal city of Ponce near the epicenter.

Large-scale power outages and roads were cut off in various places including the capital San Juan. 

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, power supplies have been disconnected to some areas, including Lares, Adjuntas, Ponce and San Sebastian, due to an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 about 14km south of the Caribbean, on January 10.

 

Puerto Rican resident Israel Velez Irizarry, 49, lives in a car outside his aunt’s house to avoid aftershocks. “Too much,” in an interview with the New York Times, he said, “We haven’t been able to shower or anything. It shakes and it shakes and it looks like it wants to keep going.”

He stays in the car with his wife and children aged 3, 7 and 8. Children’s toys, pillows, and blankets are all in the car. The Velez family have plans to come to Kentucky on January 12, where his oldest son is living in.

Puerto Rico estimated the impact of a 6.4-fold earthquake on January 7, $160 million, before seeing more roads and causing more landslides due to massive aftershocks on January 10.

Governor Wanda Vazquez asked the federal government to approve a massive disaster report on 10. President Trump approved the first emergency declaration.

What upsets Puerto Rican citizens, who are suffering the tragedy of this natural disaster, is the government’s inability to cope with the crisis.

This is due to the discovery of relief items that had been piled up in warehouses for many years without any use.

The government fired all those responsible for the neglect of relief supplies.

According to Associated Press, a video broadcast by a blogger lived on Facebook recently, a controversial issue.

In the video, when people opened a warehouse in the southern coastal city of Ponce, there were a lot of disaster relief items, including bottled water, extra beds, and baby diapers. The items appear to have been in storage since Hurricane Maria in 2017, AP said.

At the time, a hurricane killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rica. The damage that had not been recovered was still great, so many people were in anxiety the next hurricane season.

More than 7,000 people have been living in shelters since the last earthquake, with a 6.4 magnitude in the Southern region hit the strongest in 102 years.

During frequent disasters, residents are not living in drinking water or sleeping. The live streamer, filled with undistributed relief supplies, is open to Puerto Rican citizens.

Ponce, where there is a warehouse in the video, is close to the epicenter, which is a major earthquake.

Ponce Mayor Maria Melendez said she was outraged by the discovery.

“I spent several days requesting costs and water,” said Melendez. “They sent me to Cabo Rojo for the cots and to San Juan for the water. If I had known that those supplies were there, I would have demanded that they are taken out immediately.”

Immediately after the video was released, Governor Wanda hardened the head of the disaster management agency and then fired the housing and family ministers on January 19.

 

Vazquez, who also did not know the presence of supplies in the warehouse, ordered the investigation, saying “Thousands sacrificed to help the people of the South. It is unforgivable that items are stored in warehouses.”

However, the citizens’ anger is directed at the mayor. It is argued that the city’s chief executive was not aware of the existence of relief supplies. People are demanding the immediate resignation of the mayor and are protesting in La Fortaleza, the governor’s mansion.