Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello submitted his resignation Thursday after 12 days of mass protests, but the political crisis that brought San Juan to a standstill is far from over.

The massive crowds showed no sign of dispersing as they took up the call against Mr. Rossello’s next in line, Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez, an embattled figure tainted by the corruption scandals that have roiled the administration.

Shortly after the governor’s resignation, the hashtag #WandaRenuncia, or “Wanda Resign,” began trending on social media as activists vowed to keep protesting if she assumed power.

“Wanda Vazquez is very unpopular and lacks legitimacy,” said Carlos A. Suarez Carrasquillo, a lecturer at the University of Florida.

Mr. Rossello’s resignation is effective Aug. 2, and speculation has been rife that more heads may roll as the protesters, energized by their historic victory, demand more from a political establishment that has struggled for years to address the island’s financial, corruption and hurricane recovery problems.

“Right now is a critical moment in the momentum of the resignation [forces],” said Ricardo Barrios, program associate at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “Ricky’s gone now, so that goal has been met, and now you’re starting to hear people say the next move is something else.”

The primary targets: Ms. Vazquez and the members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board, created by Congress in 2016, which has imposed many of the austerity measures designed to reduce the bankrupt U.S. territory’s $120 billion debt.

A straightforward path exists to leapfrog Ms. Vazquez. The constitution calls for the secretary of state to succeed the governor, but that post has been vacant since the resignation of Luis Rivera Marin in a development related to the same texting scandal that has brought an end to the Rossello term.

If the secretary of state’s office was filled before Mr. Rossello officially steps down next week, then the next governor would be in place.

“I do think there are negotiations occurring at this time to see who will effectively be the permanent replacement to Gov. Rossello,” Mr. Suarez said.

The New Progressive Party holds both the House and Senate, as well as the administration — Mr. Rossello was elected in 2016 as a PNP candidate — and the pressure is on party leaders to handle the politically precarious transition after witnessing the first gubernatorial resignation in the island’s history.

Puerto Ricans took to the streets to celebrate and set off midnight fireworks after Mr. Rossello announced his resignation late Wednesday in a recorded video, saying he would step down “with sadness” for the good of the island.

“I am confident that Puerto Rico will continue united and move forward as it has always done,” he said. “I hope that this decision serves as a call for the reconciliation of the people, which is what we need moving forward for the well-being of Puerto Rico.”

In reality, Puerto Ricans have shown remarkable unity — against Mr. Rossello.

Virtually all sectors of society turned against him after the release this month of an internal chat with 11 top aides, all men, in which they mocked victims of Hurricane Maria and engaged in slurs against women, gays and political enemies. The chats also contained suggestions of political corruption.

The 889-page chat on the Telegram app, obtained by Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, sparked the 12 days of protests with crowds swelling to an estimated 500,000, nearly one-sixth of the island’s 3.2 million population.

Mr. Suarez said the episode confirmed many Puerto Ricans’ worst suspicions about government corruption and elitism.

“This is the cumulative effect of many years,” Mr. Suarez said. “This moment now where the island finds itself is because these chats justified what many have suspected: that the political class on the island operated in a ruthless fashion and was potentially corrupt.”

President Trump has made no secret of his views on Mr. Rossello. He called him “a terrible governor” on Monday and raised concerns on several occasions about whether the government has spent U.S. hurricane recovery funding appropriately.

Hours after the resignation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it had reinstated checks for accessing billions of dollars in U.S. relief, citing the political upheaval.

“Given the ongoing leadership changes within the Puerto Rican government, combined with continued concern over Puerto Rico’s history of fiscal irregularities and mismanagement, FEMA decided it is prudent to take additional steps to protect its share of the federal investment by reinstating the manual drawdown process,” FEMA press secretary Lizzie Litzow said in a statement.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said Thursday that Mr. Trump “must not attempt to use this crisis to serve his own political interests and delay any further Puerto Rico’s desperately needed recovery funding.”

“I am deeply concerned this move is punitive and will only further slow recovery efforts on the island,” Mr. Hoyer said in a statement.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said the administration “remains committed to the recovery effort in Puerto Rico, and we are optimistic that under a new leadership, Puerto Rico can begin a new chapter free of politicization and financial abuse.”

“For months, President Trump has expressed his deep concern that the terrible leadership on the island, unbridled corruption and the mismanagement of federal government resources by local politicians have caused the continued suffering of the people of Puerto Rico,” Mr. Deere said in a statement to reporters.

According to the White House, $40 billion has been allocated for relief from the damage of Hurricane Maria, although not all of that has reached the island. The Category 4 hurricane, which caused an estimated $90 billion in damage in 2017, hit two weeks after another strong cyclone, Hurricane Irma.

With his announcement, Mr. Rossello became the first Puerto Rico governor to resign before the end of his term. The 40-year-old research scientist, who holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan, was elected in his first bid for office, although his father served as governor.

“In my lifetime, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuna told Fox News. “My parents were telling me the same. And most of the protests were not just pacific and calm, but there was a festive mood all throughout.”

Indeed, the demonstrations appeared to be headlined primarily by local musicians and artists. Even singer Ricky Martin, an island hero who was disparaged in the chat for being gay, participated in the uprising.

The Puerto Rico House of Representatives canceled plans to begin impeachment proceedings Thursday against Mr. Rossello after receiving his letter of resignation.

As for who’s next, Mr. Barrios said, there is no obvious choice to replace the governor.

“The recognizable faces in the protest movement, a lot of them have been musicians, artists, and apart from that we don’t have a lot of people or community leaders,” he said. “The movement was highly decentralized, and a lot of people joined and participated. But now it gets tricky.”

⦁ Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.

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