Seismic Information

1) How do i find information about an earthquake in your archives?

Information about earthquakes in the region of Puerto Rico can be obtainat our site using the Earthquake Search page. The PRSN also publishes Annual Seismic reports local seismicity which provide information by month and year. You can quickly view information for this month's seismicity here. In addition to searching for earthquakes you can search for felt events here,

2) How can I copy the maps from your site?

 Copying images to your computer depends on the browser and operating system you are using:

Some images are dinamically generated by Java applications and are therefore not actual images.

If you are on a PC running Windows you can use the "Print Screen" key on your keyboard. When you browse a map that you want to copy, make sure it is visible in the screen then press "Print Screen". The contents of the entire screen are copied to the clipboard. You can now use an image editor to crop the image and select only the desired content. You can also paste the image into other programs such as Word or PowerPoint.

If you have a Macintosh computer press the following keys Apple+Shift+4. The pointer arrow will change to a selection cross. You can now select the desired area. When done the image is saved in the desktop in a file named "Picture".

To save a regular image in Internet Explorer Netscape and Firefox, you can right click in the image and select the "Save Image" option from the contextual menu. In Safari the menu option is labeled "Download Image To Disk".

3) About the time zones of Puerto Rico

1. In our data catalogue the times of seismic events are in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Search results in our web site will also use GMT. search criteria should therefore be input in Green Mean Time.

Greenwich, England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Learn more at http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/home.htm

2. The local time in Puerto Rico is equal to GMT -4. This means that in order to convert the hours listed in GMT you must substract 4 hours to the time in GMT to obtain the local time.

3. Memos and official reports of the RSPR use the local time of PR in a 24 hours format.

4) What criteria you use to determine wich are the most "significant" earthquakes in PR?

Puerto Rico is located in a zone of contact between the North America the Caribbean tectonic plate, this contact has generated a series of faults around and across the island some superficial (5 - 10 kilometers) and others deep(up to 180 km). Tremors therefore occur in all areas of the island. The southwestern region is most active and the faults are more superficial wichlies why the movements feel stronger in this area. Regarding the danger of earthquakes, at this moment the building code of construction of Puerto Rico (UBC, 1997) establishes two zones of danger (on a scale from 0 to 4, where 4 indicates the maximum danger), the Virgin Islands, Culebra and Vieques are in a "4" zone and the island of Puerto Rico in a zone 3.

5) Are there volcanoes in Puerto Rico?

There are no longer volcanoes in Puerto Rico, there are some volcanic rocks. A description of these rocks is available in the geologic maps of Puerto Rico. The Seismic Network has these maps, although it is also possible to purchase elsewhere, For example. soil/geotecnical companies and the Deparment of Public Works. The RSPR is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 6:00 pm and on Saturday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

6) Aftershocks of an earthquake

It is completely normal that we feel shakes after an earthquake. These shakes happen because of the realignment of rocks that where displaced during the main event. As time passes, there will be fewer shakes and of lesser magnitude, but it’s possible that a strong one could happen.