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| 1918 San Fermín earthquake and tsunami | |
|---|---|
| Name | 1918 San Fermín earthquake and tsunami |
| Date | 1918-10-28 |
| Magnitude | 7.3–7.7 Mwp |
| Depth | 20–40 km |
| Location | off San Fermín, Puerto Rico Trench, southern Puerto Rico |
| Affected | Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Leeward Antilles |
| Casualties | ~116–118 dead, many injured, widespread damage |
1918 San Fermín earthquake and tsunami The 1918 San Fermín earthquake and tsunami struck near the southern coast of Puerto Rico on October 28, 1918, producing a destructive tsunami that devastated coastal communities and reshaped scientific understanding of seismic hazards in the Caribbean. The event affected maritime infrastructure, urban centers, and rural settlements across Puerto Rico and had transnational effects in the Dominican Republic and nearby islands. It prompted investigations involving contemporary institutions and later seismologists, influencing hazard mapping used by agencies and researchers.
In the decades before 1918, seismicity in the northeastern Caribbean and Greater Antilles had been documented by observers linked to United States Geological Survey, Smithsonian Institution, Puerto Rico Weather Bureau, Columbia University, and regional archives in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo. The tectonic setting encompasses the Puerto Rico Trench, North American Plate, Caribbean Plate, and transform boundaries near the Muertos Trough, with regional stress fields discussed by geologists at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Royal Society. Prior events such as the 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and the 1797 earthquake near Ponce, Puerto Rico were referenced in studies by investigators from Yale University, University of Puerto Rico, Spanish colonial archives, and maritime records held by the British Admiralty. Shipping logs from companies like the Hamburg America Line, United Fruit Company, and records in Port of San Juan informed hazard awareness among municipal authorities and engineers associated with the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The mainshock occurred under the Mona Passage and southern Puerto Rico shelf near the town of San Fermín, with intensity reports collected by observers in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Guayama, Patillas, Humacao, Fajardo, and Aguadilla. Contemporary seismographs at installations in Washington, D.C., Charleston (South Carolina), Havana, Cuba, Kingston, Jamaica, and at observatories operated by Carnegie Institution and Observatorio de la Universidad de La Habana recorded seismic waves. Analysts from USGS and researchers publishing in journals like the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America reconstructed a focal mechanism consistent with thrust faulting or oblique thrust motion along the Puerto Rico Trench margin, a model later refined by teams from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and NOAA tsunami specialists. Aftershock sequences were documented by physicians, municipal officials, and engineers from Ponce Municipal Government and the San Juan City Hall.
The earthquake generated a tsunami that impacted the southern coast of Puerto Rico, producing runups measured by observers in Ponce, Guayama, Yauco, Patillas, and Salinas. Maritime accounts from masters of vessels registered at Port of Ponce and reports filed with the United States Navy and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey provided wave-height observations and timing, with corroboration by missionaries and clergy in parishes affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. The wave transited the Caribbean Sea and was noted by captains linked to the Royal Navy, crews of the SS Santurce and other merchant ships, and island governments in Santo Domingo and the Leeward Islands. Scientific correspondence involving staff at NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, and later compilations by International Tsunami Information Center used these eyewitness accounts to model tsunami generation by seafloor displacement and submarine landslide scenarios.
Damage assessments reported collapsed masonry in historic districts of Ponce Historic Zone, ruined piers at Ponce Port, destroyed sugarcane infrastructure near estates owned by entities like Central Aguirre, and damaged facilities at medical centers including Hospital Tricoche and San Juan Military Hospital. Casualty tallies compiled by municipal authorities, local newspapers such as El Mundo (Puerto Rico), La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico, and consular dispatches estimated about 116–118 fatalities and numerous injuries, with population displacement recorded by relief committees and religious organizations including the Red Cross and local parish charities. Economic impacts affected export commodity chains tied to sugar industry in Puerto Rico, coffee production, and shipping lines operating through Caribbean Sea trade routes, prompting responses from legislatures in Puerto Rico House of Delegates and municipal councils in Ponce and San Juan.
Initial rescue and salvage operations involved United States Navy vessels, local police forces in Ponce Police Department, municipal fire brigades, and humanitarian relief coordinated by the American Red Cross alongside clergy from the Roman Catholic Church in Puerto Rico. Reconstruction efforts engaged contractors and engineers associated with American Institute of Architects, architects trained at École des Beaux-Arts, and infrastructure planners from Army Corps of Engineers. International assistance and reporting involved diplomats from the United States Department of State, consuls from Spain, United Kingdom, and Germany, and survey teams from the Pan American Union. Reconstruction priorities included rebuilding ports, restoring railway connections operated by the Ponce and Guayama Railroad Company, and retrofitting masonry structures influenced by later building codes promulgated by agencies similar to the National Bureau of Standards.
The 1918 event became a case study for seismologists and tsunami researchers at institutions such as the Seismological Society of America, NOAA, USGS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and universities including University of Puerto Rico and Columbia University. Analyses examined faulting along the Puerto Rico Trench, the role of submarine landslides, and tsunami propagation across the Caribbean Sea, contributing to hazard assessments used by the Puerto Rico Seismic Network and informing tsunami warning practices by organizations like the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and the later Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The event appears in historical compilations by historians at Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de Puerto Rico, disaster studies at Harvard Kennedy School, and in museum exhibits at the Museo de Arte de Ponce and maritime collections of the Museum of Puerto Rican History. Its legacy influenced legislation on seismic safety in Puerto Rico and stimulated international cooperation through entities like the Pan American Health Organization and seismic monitoring initiatives led by International Seismological Centre.
Category:Earthquakes in Puerto Rico