'Iconic' Punta Ventana stone arch collapses as earthquake hits Puerto Rico

THE PUNTA VENTANA rock formation at Puerto Rico was destroyed by an earthquake that hit the Caribbean island yesterday. 

The famous stone arch collapsed yesterday when the earthquake struck. 

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the island yesterday, toppling houses and causing power outages and small landslides but there were no reports of casualties. 

The quake was felt throughout much of the island, including the capital San Juan.

Images showing the collapse of the rock formation were posted on the Twitter account of the Meteorological Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico. 

The rock, a major tourist attraction, was described as “iconic” by local media. 

Damage

Some 250,000 customers were hit by electric power outages after the quake, which struck at 6.32am local time. 

Images posted on social media showed houses tumbled from their supporting pillars, cracks in walls, cars crushed under collapsed houses and small scale landslides.

The quake was the strongest of a series that have rippled through the island since December, and it was followed by at least eight aftershocks, officials said.

No tsunami alerts were issued.

With reporting from AFP