California Governor Newsom sends incident managers to help with Puerto Rico’s earthquakes

A series of strong earthquakes that have rocked Puerto Rico prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce Saturday the deployment of disaster aid to assist on rebuilding the unincorporated island territory.

The 31 disaster specialists will leave Sunday for Puerto Rico and deploy for 16 days, according to a statement from the governor’s office, and will be led by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, known as Cal OES. The mission will include emergency and debris management, engineering and safety assessment, planning, and crisis counseling. Members from California Department of Social Services, CalRecycle, Caltrans, and the Division of the State Architect within the Department of General Service will be among those visiting the island.

“The destruction by these earthquakes is clearly severe and widespread,” said OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. “Here in California, we have some of the most talented and experienced emergency management staff in the world. We are ready to provide their valuable skill sets to our partners in Puerto Rico.”

Puerto Rico’s government made the request directly to Newsom’s Office after several earthquakes damaged the southwest coast of Puerto Rico over the past week, leaving more than 4,000 people in shelters. Nearly one million people are without power and many without water.

“California stands with the people of Puerto Rico,” said Newsom. “Our nation-sized state knows first-hand the devastating toll of natural disasters and we will provide aid and support as our brothers and sisters rebuild and recover.”

California has assisted other governments in crisis before. In the last two years, OES has deployed teams to assist Florida and South Carolina after they sustained devastating hurricane damage.

In recent weeks, there have been more than 1,000 earthquakes in Puerto Rico. Saturday’s earthquake occurred four days after a 6.4 magnitude quake in the same area. Saturday’s earthquake was a 6.0 aftershock, according to the National Weather Service.

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez said the damage from just Tuesday’s earthquake amounted to be about $110 million, with 559 structures affected.

The territory is still reeling from Hurricane Maria in 2017, which was the most destructive storm in the modern history of the island.

This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 4:38 PM.