El Boricua News Items

The first step in getting back to your roots is eating Puerto Rican Source: www.elboricua.com There are three Puerto Ricos you need to learn about; the old, the new and the natural. Learn about our beloved terruño in EL BORICUA, a monthly cultural publication for Puerto Ricans. Subscribe NOW

Columns In My Opinion PR Military History Our Politics In My Kitchen Jordan El Poeta

Puerto Rico did not waste time and mobilized to help Haiti. Interim Gov. Kenneth McClintock sent three military helicopters and two C-130 cargo airplanes from the Puerto Rico Army National Guard filled with emergency personnel and equipment to aid the neighboring Caribbean nation, which was devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Tuesday (Jan 12). The distance between Puerto Rico and Haiti is about 400 miles, and yes, the 7.0 Haiti earthquare was felt in parts of Puerto Rico and the Greater Antilles. Possibly the strongest earthquake that has affected Puerto Rico since the beginning of colonization occurred on May 2, 1787. It was felt strongly throughout the Island and may have been as large as magnitude 8.0 on the Richter Scale. Its epicenter was possibly to the north, in the Puerto Rico Trench. It demolished the Arecibo church along with the El Rosario and La Concepcion monasteries and damaged the churches at Bayamón, Toa Baja and Mayagüez. It also caused considerable damage to the castles of San Felipe del Morro and San Cristobal, breaking cisterns, walls and guard houses.