Welcome to the TsunamiZone in Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico (PR) is located in the Caribbean in an extremely seismically active area. The Island is surrounded by active fault systems. These faults are capable of triggering strong earthquakes, which in turn may generate tsunamis, some deadly. Historically, PR has experienced devastating tsunamis; November 18, 1867, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the Anegada Passage, southeast of the Island generated a tsunami that affected that zone and the Virgin Islands; In October 11, 1918, waves as high as 20 feet approximately, affected majorly the northwest of Puerto Rico, after a 7.3 earthquake in the Mona Canyon. 116 victims were reported being killed by the earthquake and tsunami.

Register Your Tsunami Preparedness Activities!

participants in Puerto Rico and counting for Caribe Wave!

Laguna Condado	Faro Rincon	Esperanza Vieques

The Puerto Rico Seismic Network at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez works 24 hours a day, all year long, in locating and processing the seismic events in its area of responsibility, which besides PR, also includes the United States and British Virgin Islands, and part of Dominican Republic. In case of a potential tsunami or a real tsunami occurring, the PRSN will activate both the established protocols with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), and the local products to maintain the community aware and rapidly disseminate whichever alert message needed to have people in tsunami flood areas, evacuate and move to high ground, away from the coast, or to the assembly points established in their evacuation maps under the Tsunami Ready Program. The Tsunami Ready Program develops guidelines that strengthen the communities located in tsunamis prone areas on how to identify the natural alerts for tsunamis, work on their preparedness and develop emergency plans. All coastal municipalities in PR, and two non-coastal participate in the Tsunami Ready Program.