World News for Students of English

13-01-2020 07:00

An earthquake of a 5.8 magnitude hit the island of Puerto Rico this morning.

Officials said that there were no badly injured people. However, the earthquake destroyed houses and damaged some historical structures, such as a lighthouse that was more than 120 years old. Many cars crashed, walls cracked and there was rubble in the roads.

There were hundreds of small earthquakes in the area. Scientists expect aftershocks, but they do not give any tsunami warnings. The earthquakes hit close to the land and not very deep under the ground which is why people felt them more than usual.

Difficult words: magnitude (a number which says how strong an earthquake is), rubble (broken pieces of things which are damaged or destroyed), aftershock (a small earthquake that often comes after a large earthquake).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.