Over the last week, the Southern region of Puerto Rico has been hit with multiple earthquakes and aftershocks, the latest of which hit this morning. The area which includes, Ponce and the popular tourist area of Guayanilla, suffered severe destruction as well as a blackout.
As of now, there have not been any deaths reported.
The quakes, which have topped magnitudes of 6.4, caused the stone arch known as Punta Ventana to collapse. The arch has been a popular destination for tourists who come to the area.
“This is really sad,” resident Denniza Colon said in a telephone interview with the Miami Herald. “It was one of the biggest tourism draws of Guayanilla.”
This comes just as the island’s tourism industry fully recovered from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Despite the recent earthquakes, the island’s tourism board does state that tourism will run normally.
Damage is still being assessed, but it has been determined that only the southern region (not including San Juan) was affected.