Puerto Rican’s woke up today, preparing to celebrate Three Kings Day, and instead were shaken by yet another earthquake — this one, destroying homes, and one of the island’s natural wonders.
Puerto Rican natural wonder, Punta Ventana, collapses amid 5.8 magnitude earthquake
One of Puerto Rico’s iconic natural wonders — a soaring stone arch along the southern coast known as Punta Ventana or Window Point — collapsed early Monday as a 5.79 earthquake rattled the island.
Denniza Colon, a 22-year-old resident of Guayanilla, said she went by the area Monday and was shocked to find the arch, a place that she visited frequently as a child, had simply vanished.
According to El Nuevo Dia, the tremors caused parts of the rocks to break off of the stone and as a result "The Window Beach" disappeared, as confirmed by Glidden López, press officer of the municipality of Guayanilla. It has also been confirmed that five residences in the Esperanza neighborhood have collapsed, according to the newspaper.
The Playa Ventana is located in the Boca neighborhood of Guanyanilla, between Cerro Toro and Punta Ventana. It is known as "Window Beach" because the middle of the rock is raised above the shoreline, with a hole allowing people to look out at the sea. As a main tourist attraction for the "Fishermans Village", the collapse of Playa Ventana has the potential to hurt the local economy.
This is the beauty that was Punta Ventana:
Punta Ventana is a natural rock “eye” that very few people get to see. It is in an out-of-the-way place, and not visible from any road. But, with the right planning, it is not too difficult to get to — and well worth the effort.The Punta Ventana rock formation is in the south western part of Puerto Rico, along the coastline in Guayanilla, and adjacent to the Guánica State Forest & Bioshpere Reserve (Bosque Estatal de Guánica). It is a beautiful place, and even though it is on the coast, it is still hot and dry.
AP gets it wrong:
So far — I have only seen one response from a Congressperson: