A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Puerto Rico on Monday night, the authorities said, but there were no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or damage.
The earthquake struck 44 miles north of Puerto Rico and at a depth of about six miles, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The quake comes as the island’s residents are bracing for Tropical Depression Karen, which is expected to bring heavy rains and possible flooding and landslides on Tuesday.
Some people in Puerto Rico were jolted awake by the earthquake, The Associated Press reported. But Kiara Hernández, a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico’s Emergency Management Agency, told the news agency that there were no immediate reports of damages.
There was no tsunami risk from the earthquake or from three smaller aftershocks that hit the same region soon after, the National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on Twitter.
As of 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Karen was about 150 miles south of Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, and moving northward at eight miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of about 35 miles per hour, according to NOAA.
NOAA said Karen was expected to pass near or over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Tuesday and that it could strengthen into a tropical storm later in the day.
Two years ago, Puerto Rico was struck by Hurricane Maria, which killed 3,000 people and left much of the island without electricity. The storm precipitated a financial and political crisis for the United States territory.
