A damaged house in Puerto Rico
(Photo : Reuters)

More than 700 Puerto Ricans who were displaced due to the series of earthquakes planned to stay in the government temporary shelter until the shaking of the ground stops.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that Indios, located in the island's southwest region, was at the epicenter of the back-to-back earthquakes this month that triggered strings of seismic activity that could last as much as a month.

On Jan.6, the island was hit by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, the first quake of the year the island experienced, it hit people while they were celebrating Three Kings Day. The earthquake destroyed a popular tourist landmark in Guayanilla known as Punta Ventana.

After the island experienced a 6.4 magnitude quake that destroyed many homes and took the life of one person, an islandwide blackout, and destroyed numbers of buildings, Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vasquez said that the quake costs $110 million in damages across 559 structures.

Moreover, for more than 4000 displaced individuals due to earthquakes, going back to their homes safe is getting more and more difficult as the U.S. territory's government runs up in their fundings, shortages of personnel to assess damages, and the lack of a plan to relocate those who are sleeping outdoors to a more comfortable and safer housing.

One of the residents in Indio, Gilberto Feliciano, a former construction worker, said that he is convinced that no building is safe to be built in the southern part of Puerto Rico. He said: "My house, especially, moves like a snake. First, you hear a sound like a truck and then the shaking."

There are 16 towns in the southern part of the island that were designated as major disaster zones and that includes Guánica, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Ponce and Yauco. Mayors in these towns said that they sustained a total of $460 million combined damages.

The mayor of Yauco, Angeli "Luigi" Torres, said that there were more 3,000 homes and small businesses that were destroyed in his town and he also said that if the shaking continues it could bring down their town. Moreover, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that they approved at least $3.6 million to give financial aid or assistance to households and individuals, but the budget has not yet been given to the communities.

Recovery is still a big question on the island. According to the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, there were at least 2,581 earthquakes on the island this month and that includes a 5.9 magnitude on Jan.11, a 5.2 magnitude four days after, and the most recent magnitude 5.0 this past weekend. Historically, the island experiences around 186 tremors in a decade.

However, for Feliciano and other displaced individuals, they refuse to return to their homes until they know that it is safe. The government sent inspectors to assess if the homes are still good for habitation, but for some, the list of displaced individuals is too long and it could be a long time before they all get answers.

The Mayor in Yauco admitted that one of the challenges he is facing is the lack of structural engineers who were trained to inspect damaged structures and then determine if they are still safe or not anymore. Torres said: We have like 40 engineers but they are not enough. We're in need of engineers that can come here and help us inspect 3,000 homes here that have damages."