The resulting data will be used by scientists at the USGS, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and other groups to better inform knowledge of geologic hazards, such as earthquakes and landslides, and evaluate natural resources as well as other applications.
These investments will help improve various aspects of the Puerto Rican economy and resiliency to natural hazards and resource management issues, such as the risk for damaging earthquakes. Puerto Rico was the site of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in 2020 that caused extensive damage, including to the important Costa Sur power plant, which resulted in island-wide power outages that lasted several months.
“With Puerto Rico facing pressing challenges such as the threat of damaging earthquakes, the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, the Biden-Harris administration is making critical investments to bolster local resilience and readiness,” said Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. “These surveys, the first of their kind in Puerto Rico, will help us understand the unique geology of the territory and how it plays into the potential for earthquakes and other natural hazards, as well as the island’s natural-resource promise.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is facilitating more than $320 million in total funding for geological surveys to modernize our understanding of the nation’s fundamental geologic framework through the USGS’s Earth Mineral Resources Initiative (Earth MRI). Earth MRI supports geophysical and topographic surveys, the development of new geologic maps and geochemical sampling. Additional funding for the Puerto Rico airborne survey was provided by the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program.
“Understanding the geology of Puerto Rico through the data these surveys provide will help give us a clearer understanding of the faults that generate these earthquakes,” said USGS Director David Applegate. “Having that knowledge will allow the Puerto Rican government and scientists to plan how to mitigate geologic-hazard risks to communities on the island.”
"We're very thankful to USGS for carrying out this comprehensive project whose data will benefit UPRM scientists, our Seismic Network and Strong Movement Network, among other researchers who will be nourished by this relevant information. We feel honored that on the way to this project they have had the expertise of our researchers. This highlights the importance of interagency collaborations in the search for scientific knowledge," said Dr. Agustín Rullán Toro, UPRM Chancellor.
Original source can be found here
