Earthquake in Puerto Rico and the rumored Death of Daddy Yankee

An earthquake hit Puerto Rico today – Sunday May 16, 2010, at 01.16 a.m. local time. The magnitude was an average 5.1, which is a moderate earthquake. It is lesser than the earthquake striking Haiti a couple of months ago. The epicenter lay in the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between the Caribbean and the North American plates.

News agencies such as CaribNews, CNN, and Reuters immediately started covering the impact of the earthquake, which happened at a depth of 110 km (68 miles). The centre of the earthquake happened at about 8 km (5 miles) northeast of Mayaguaz, and 107 km (67 miles) west of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.  

Initially there were no reports of damages or injuries. As the hours passed by news on the consequences started pouring in on Twitter and other sources. There were landslides reported near Cayey and damaged roads near Moca.  Tweeters reported a loss of electricity in San Antonio, Aguadillo, which is near the epicenter of the earthquake. They also reported that there was no radio or TV available in that area. A Twitterer reported that the earthquake was felt strongly in Cabo Rojo. There were no major problems; he just felt his bed shaking very strongly for about 15 seconds. "The ground felt like quicksand," says a resident.  Most people say they only felt tremors and there were no problems.

qZone News reported no tsunami warning has been issued for the earthquake this morning. But there is a local Tsunami Watch. qZone also reported the last strong earthquake in Puerto Rico, with a 7.5 magnitude, hit the island on November 10, 1918 in the same area as the current one did. A 6 meter high tsunami wave hit the Puertorican coasts after the earthquake had subsided. Local tsunamis can be caused due to underwater slides. In the past few days minor earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.7 to 3.5 have hit Puerto Rico near the current epicenter and near the Mona Passage.

Daddy Yankee supposed Dead

The rumors on the death of Reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee supposedly caused by the earthquake are greatly exaggerated. There is no news about this tragedy on Daddy Yankee’s Twitter account, fan page, or website. No official national or international news agency has reported this tragedy .

Music Artists and Dancers from Puerto Rico have had a major role in the global Salsa Music and Dance industry. Icons like Eddie & Albert Torres, La India, and Gilberto Santa Rosa were all born on the island. Minor earthquakes happen all around the world. Today the Indian Andaman Islands, the Alaskan Peninsula, Potzdam in Northern Algeria, Papua in Indonesia, Sicily in Italy, the Southern part of Greece, and Baja California in Mexico all experienced light tremors caused by earthquakes. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 rattled the southern part of Peru and the northern part of Chile last Wednesday.

 The international Salsa Dance and Music community will be paying close attention to Puerto Rico in the hours and days to come.