meteor puerto rico
© porlosmares / instagram
The US territory has been jolted by a series of powerful tremors since the beginning of this year. The island has also been recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria that ravaged the territory in 2017.

Citizens of Puerto Rico have taken to social media platforms to share photos and videos of an unusual celestial phenomenon they witnessed on Friday afternoon.

In the media posts, a meteor-like fireball was seen swiftly flashing through a blue cloudless sky before disappearing moments later.
puerto rico meteor
© NOAA
A bright meteor fireball disintegrated in the sky over Puerto Rico on January 17 at 4:30 p.m. EST time Friday. This was the moment it detonated in the atmosphere north of the island



National Weather Service satellites also captured what appeared to be a meteor blast over Puerto Rico at around 4:30 p.m. EST.

An astronomy professor in Puerto Rico and vice president of the Caribbean Astronomy Society, Eddie Irizarry, told AP that he had received reports of the phenomenon from all over the island, saying that it was "a rare event". The professor surmised that the celestial body must have been a couple of feet in length.

Meanwhile, an eyewitness has told AP that he thought the fireball was something catastrophic given the recent earthquakes that shook the territory.