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
The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The oceanic trench, the deepest in the Atlantic, is associated with a complex transition between the Lesser Antilles subduction zone to the south and the major transform fault zone or plate boundary, which extends west between Cuba and Hispaniola through the Cayman Trough to the coast of Central America.
Perspective view of the sea floor of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Lesser Antilles are on the lower left side of the view and Florida is on the upper right. The purple sea floor at the center of the view is the Puerto Rico trench, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
The submersible Limiting Factor floating on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean after the six hour dive to the Bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench.
