Puerto Rico Earthquakes
Incident Period: Dec 28, 2019 - Jul 3, 2020
Declaration Date: Jan 16, 2020
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- 24/7 counseling: Disaster Distress Helpline
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More About This Disaster
Now Closed: Period to Apply for Disaster Assistance
The last day for individuals and families to apply for assistance after this disaster has passed. You are no longer able to begin a new claim.
To check the status on a previously submitted claim, visit DisasterAssistance.gov.
I Was Told to Call the U.S. Small Business Administration
FEMA is not allowed to provide disaster assistance for certain losses covered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loans. The SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to individuals and households to help with disaster losses. FEMA works with the SBA to determine if you may qualify for Personal Property Assistance, Transportation Assistance, or a Group Flood Insurance Policy.
FEMA will automatically refer you to the SBA to be considered for a disaster loan if you meet SBA’s income standards. FEMA uses your household annual gross income and number of dependents to determine if you should be referred to the SBA.
If you are referred to the SBA, FEMA will contact you via an auto-dialer system to explain how to apply for a disaster loan. You must complete and return a loan application to be considered for an SBA loan or certain types of FEMA assistance. You do not have to accept an SBA loan offer. However, if you are approved for an SBA loan, and you do not accept it, you will not be referred back to FEMA for personal property or transportation assistance.
For more information about the SBA disaster loan program, please call the SBA at 800-659-2955 (TTY: 800-877-8339). SBA information is also available at www.SBA.gov/disaster or by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Learn more about SBA loans
I Applied for Assistance. What's Next?
If You Have Insurance
Please contact your insurance company as soon as possible to file a claim. FEMA can only provide money after you get your insurance settlement. If your insurance doesn’t cover all of your home repair or rebuilding expenses, FEMA may be able to help.
FEMA can’t provide money for expenses covered by insurance or duplicate benefits from another source. When you get your insurance settlement or denial, please send a copy to FEMA as soon as you can.
If your insurance settlement is delayed more than 30 days from the time you file your claim, call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.
Learn more about the steps after applying
If You Do Not Have Insurance
FEMA will verify your disaster-caused losses. The agency will schedule a time to inspect your home if you reported damage to your home or personal property. Or FEMA will ask you to send documents to verify your expenses.
You will receive notification letters from FEMA either by mail or electronic correspondence explaining your next steps. If necessary based on the losses you reported, an inspector will contact you by phone to schedule an inspection. If you miss the call, they will leave a voicemail message and make multiple attempts to reach you. The inspector should not need to view repair receipts or pictures of the damage. But if you begin cleaning up before the inspection, FEMA suggests you take pictures, make a list of your losses, and keep receipts for all of your disaster-caused expenses.
Find a Housing Counselor
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides support to a nationwide network of housing counseling agencies (HCAs) and certified counselors. HUD-participating HCAs are approved and trained to provide tools to current and prospective homeowners and renters so they can make responsible choices to address their housing needs in light of their financial situations.
Verifying Home Ownership or Occupancy
FEMA is required to verify you lived at the address in your application as your primary residence before providing most types of assistance. FEMA is also required to verify you owned your home before providing home repair or home replacement assistance. Learn more about this process.
As part of our effort to make the disaster assistance process quicker and reduce the burden on applicants, we try to verify occupancy and ownership by using an automated public records search.
If we cannot verify you lived in or owned the home that you listed on your application, we will ask you to provide documents to prove occupancy and/or ownership to help us determine if you are approved for assistance.
How Do I Appeal the Decision?
If you receive a letter stating that you are not approved for assistance or that your application is incomplete, you can still complete the application or appeal the decision within 60 days of receiving a decision letter. The letter would either be mailed to you or placed into your Disaster Assistance Center account, if you have set up an account.
Learn more about appeals
Frequently Asked Questions and Rumors
Learn more about common disaster-related rumors and how to report fraud. You can also get answers to frequently asked questions about emergency shelters, disaster assistance, flood insurance and more.
Multilingual Resources
You can find social media graphics with important safety messaging in various languages, including English, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
We also have videos in American Sign Language (ASL) on topics including:
How to Help
Volunteer and Donate
Recovery can take many years after a disaster. There are many ways to help such as donating cash, needed items or your time. Learn more about how to help those in need.
Don’t self-deploy to disaster areas. Trusted organizations in the affected areas know where volunteers are needed. Work with an established organization to make sure you have the appropriate safety, training and skills needed to respond.
FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VALs) support the significant contributions of voluntary, faith-based, and community stakeholders active in disaster by building relationships – and coordinating efforts – with and across partner organizations and government agencies.
Doing Business with FEMA
If you are interested in providing paid services and goods for disaster relief, visit our Doing Business with FEMA page to get started.
If you own a business involved with debris removal and want to work on clean-up efforts in affected areas, please contact the local government in affected areas to offer your services.
Local Resources
Local Information
Local News & Media
Visit the News & Media page for events, fact sheets, press releases and other multimedia resources.
Contact Information
For media inquiries in Puerto Rico, please contact:
- fema-newsdeskpr@fema.dhs.gov
- 1-866-366-8807
Puerto Rico Location Page
Additional Resources
- Free legal aid available to eligible Puerto Rico residents affected by the earthquakes that began in December. Click here for more information.
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available for individuals who lost their jobs because of the earthquakes in southwest Puerto Rico and live or work in any of the 25 municipalities FEMA approved for assistance may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Click here for more information.
- As of February 6, 2020: Nine additional municipalities that were affected by the earthquakes in southwest Puerto Rico have been designated as eligible for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. At the request of the Government of Puerto Rico, FEMA extended eligibility for Individual Assistance to Arecibo, Ciales, Hormigueros, Juana Díaz, Las Marías, Mayagüez, Morovis, Orocovis and Sabana Grande under the January 16 presidential disaster declaration.
- As of March 29, 2021: The municipality of Rincón was designated as eligible for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. Survivors have until May 24, 2021 to apply for assistance.
By The Numbers
Stay up to date with our weekly funding updates
Disaster Assistance
For more information on getting assistance after a disaster visit our Individual Assistance page
Disaster Recovery Center Locations
Due to COVID-19, centers are operating by appointment if you wish to speak with a FEMA representative in person. If you are delivering documents, you may do so through the drive-thru service. call FEMA at 1(800) 621-3362 o 1 (800) 642-7585 (TTY) or visit www.disasterassistance.gov to make an appointment.
Distaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) serve homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained damage as a result of the recent earthquakes in Southwest Puerto Rico. Specialists from the government of Puerto Rico and municipalities, FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration, nongovernmental organizations and the local community, will be on hand to help survivors register for assistance, answer questions and provide information on the types of assistance available to survivors. Services are provided in English and Spanish. The centers are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
SBA Business Recovery Centers
Assistance With Coping After An Earthquake
Tips to help lessen anxiety
- Staying connected with your family and your closest friends.
- Check on your neighbors, especially people who may need help like seniors, parents with young children and people with disabilities.
If you are feeling anxious or stressed, call the Primera Ayuda Sicosocial at 800-981-0023 and meet with a crisis counselor.
For more information read our Coping After an Earthquake: Only You Can Determine Your Healing Time news release.
Crisis Counseling
FEMA has approved crisis counseling assistance for residents of Guánica, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Ponce, Utuado and Yauco.
FEMA is funding the crisis counseling program, which is administered by Proyecto Animate. The program’s goal is to help people and communities to recover from the effects of natural or man-made disasters through short-term intervention.
In addition to the counselors at the disaster recovery centers and base camps, counselors can be reached by calling Línea PAS at 800-981-0023 or (TTY) 800-672-7622, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For more infomation read our Crisis Counseling Approved for Six Municipalities in Southwest Puerto Rico news release.
How to Help
Volunteer and Donate
Recovery can take many years after a disaster. There are many ways to help such as donating cash, needed items or your time. Learn more about how to help those in need.
Don’t self-deploy to disaster areas. Trusted organizations in the affected areas know where volunteers are needed. Work with an established organization to make sure you have the appropriate safety, training and skills needed to respond.
FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VALs) build relationships and coordinate efforts with voluntary, faith-based and community organizations active in disasters.
Doing Business with FEMA
If you are interested in providing paid services and goods for disaster relief, visit our Doing Business with FEMA page to get started.
If you own a business involved with debris removal and want to work on clean-up efforts in affected areas, please contact the local government in affected areas to offer your services.
Funding Obligations
| Individual Assistance | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total Housing Assistance (HA) - Dollars Approved | $74,615,046.24 |
| Total Other Needs Assistance (ONA) - Dollars Approved | $2,212,155.37 |
| Total Individual & Households Program Dollars Approved | $76,827,201.61 |
| Individual Assistance Applications Approved | 14239 |
| Public Assistance | Amount |
|---|---|
| Emergency Work (Categories A-B) - Dollars Obligated | $434,834,946.64 |
| Permanent Work (Categories C-G) - Dollars Obligated | $409,976,208.38 |
| Total Public Assistance Grants Dollars Obligated | $903,135,195.06 |
| Hazard Mitigation Assistance | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) - Dollars Obligated | $27,121,875.18 |