‘The Emergency Is Not Over’: A Q&A from the Epicenter of the Puerto Rico Earthquake
Puerto Rico is recovering from a series of major earthquakes that have destroyed thousands of homes and left crowds of people sleeping outside. Learn more in this Q&A with Project HOPE’s Elsy Benitez-Vargas, who is on the ground in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico has been rocked by a swarm of over 950 earthquakes since the start of 2020, including the most powerful quake to hit the island in a century. With much of the island still recovering from Hurricane Maria, the earthquakes have been devastating: homes that were yet to be fully rebuilt are now collapsed, while roads and bridges are unpassable.
The earthquakes have also triggered new health concerns, including large crowds of people sleeping outside in unofficial shelters that often don’t have toilets or sanitation. Meanwhile, many people are going without their medication as pharmacies remain closed.
Read more in this Q&A with Project HOPE’s Elsy Benitez-Vargas, who is on the ground in Puerto Rico.
Q: Are many people still scared to go back in their homes? Where are they staying?
A: Yes. It is estimated that at least half the people at official and unofficial shelters are there because they are afraid to sleep in their homes. They do not want to be caught sleeping under a concrete roof if there is another big earthquake. The ongoing aftershocks continue to feed this fear — a significant number of people suffered structural damage to their homes and feel unsafe entering their homes until they are evaluated by engineers.
There are seven official shelters in the region between Ponce and Guanica; however, it is estimated that there are approximately 40 unofficial shelters where citizens have congregated to sleep and seek safety in open grounds. In addition to this, we see small pockets of people on the side of the road or in yards throughout various neighborhoods extending to the mountain areas of Las Marias and Orocovis. These small pockets are too numerous to count.
Q: What are conditions like in the unofficial shelters where people are sleeping outside?
A: Some unofficial shelters — like the one in Cantera Ponce where our team provided services — are well coordinated due to previous emergency preparedness trainings that the municipality held with community leaders. These shelters lacked some basic needs at first, but not for long as the response from NGOs and less-affected civilians was excellent.
In some areas like Guayanilla we are seeing a lack of organization and poor living conditions without bathroom access or port-a-potties. Hygiene is an ongoing issue that we are working hard to address through our collaboration with the Ponce Medical School and the Public Health Association.
Q: What are the greatest health concerns after the earthquake? What things do people need?
“The greatest health concern is preventing gastrointestinal and respiratory illness outbreaks due to the lack of sanitation and bathrooms.”
A: The greatest health concern is preventing gastrointestinal and respiratory illness outbreaks due to the lack of sanitation and bathrooms. We are also concerned about vulnerable populations like the elderly who may suffer dehydration, as the heat outdoors is intense.
People who suffer chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, and hypertension are another area of concern due to restricted access to their medications. For example, in Guayanilla every single local pharmacy remained closed last week. Some people left their medications behind in collapsed houses and are unable to re-enter their homes to retrieve them.
You only have to walk through any of the communities in Guanica, Yauco, or Guayanilla to see that the damage is vast. People need outdoor safe spaces — they need a temporary shelter rather than a roof over their heads as long as the ground continues to shake. They need proper portable bathrooms and showers and handwashing stations. We also need to continue to provide support with medication access until most of the local businesses reopen.
Volunteer medical providers are also key to help provide relief to burnt-out providers in the affected areas. As one local doctor put it, “I have not even had time to cry yet about the total loss of my own house because I am running around helping my people.”
Q: How have these earthquakes affected people’s mental health?
A: People are very scared. They are showing signs and symptoms of PTSD. They have a hard time sleeping, which is compounding the problem. Anxiety is the number one diagnosis that providers report. People feel insecure about their ability to meet their basic needs like shelter, food, water, and basic health care.
Q: How is the impact of Hurricane Maria still being felt in Puerto Rico?
A: Many people were still living in homes that were damaged by the hurricane, and now the damage is worse. Some of the roads have not been fully repaired since Maria — now there are landslides and new concerns over the weaker bridges. The problem is that even though you could get structures inspected and deemed safe, you then get another 6.0 earthquake and then you have to start over again, as there may be new damage. I certainly do not feel safe driving on bridges or underneath them as I did before.
Is there anything else you want people to know about what’s happening? This is a very large-scale disaster that is not getting appropriate attention from the media. The emergency is not over. The ground continues to shake, causing even more damage. We have a lot of people who have lost their homes.
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