1918 San Fermín earthquake
The 1918 San Fermín earthquake, also known as the Puerto Rico earthquake of 1918, struck the island of Puerto Rico at 10:14:42 local time on October 11. The earthquake measured 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale and IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The mainshock epicenter occurred off the northwestern coast of the island, somewhere along the Puerto Rico Trench.
Damage caused to the "La Habanera de Infanzón y Rodríguez" building in Mayagüez
Simulation of the results of the tsunami on the coast of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Cathedral of Mayagüez after the first earthquake; further damage toppled the left tower
Aguadilla Punta Borinquen Lighthouse Ruins—an 1889 lighthouse destroyed by the tsunami
Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Caribbean island, Commonwealth, and unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. With roughly 3.2 million residents, it is divided into 78 municipalities, of which the most populous is the capital municipality of San Juan. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.
A 20th-century reconstruction of an 8th-century Taíno village, located at the spot in which their ballpark and remains were discovered in 1975, in the aftermath of Hurricane Eloise
Artist's depiction of Juan Ponce de León, Puerto Rico's first governor
1625 attack on San Juan by Boudewijn Hendricksz
Sugar haciendas, like the one depicted above, ran a significant portion of the Puerto Rican economy in the late 19th century.