Earthquakes force Jacksonville woman’s family from home in Guanica, Puerto Rico

Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico was the strongest to hit the island in more than a century.

Many on the island territory are now dealing with the effects of about 1,000 tremors since late December.

At least one person is dead, and hundreds of people are homeless. The town of Guanica may have been the hardest hit.

Yanira Cardona, who lives and works in Jacksonville, has intimate ties to Guanica. She tells Action News Jax Reporter Ryan Nelson she started school in Guanica and spent summers there while growing up.

“They don’t know what to do. They don’t know how to react to that,” she said.

Cardona tells us her father and extended family call Guanica home.

She shared video with Action News Jax showing cracks in her father’s newly built garage. She was there for the holidays when the seismic activity began on December 28th.

“It lasted between 10-12 seconds, and that’s when we realized that it was an earthquake, and we ran outside, and we saw all the neighbors come outside.”

Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes. She tells us her family’s chosen to set up camp outside of their home, for fear of their safety.

“My family last night all camped out on the streets, because no one wants to sleep inside the homes,” she said.

She tells us the Puerto Rico has yet to make a full recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

“People are still trying to recover from Hurricane Maria, there’s still a lot of homes that don’t have roofs. There’s still a lot of homes that the foundation is not as strong,” said Cardona.

How to help:

• American Red Cross: LINK
• United Way: LINK
• Catholic Charities: LINK
• Salvation Army: LINK
• Hispanic Federation: LINK

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