STRONG EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI THREAT RATTLE NERVES

By Staff Writer

Cayman went into a state of high alert on Saturday evening following reports of a massive earthquake in the Caribbean Sea in the vicinity of the islands raising fears of the risk of a tsunami.

Official reports measured it at 7.6 on the Richter scale and put the epicentre about 129 miles southwest of George Town. It was described as “one of the strongest earthquakes in the region in recent memory”.

To everyone’s relief the tsunami didn’t materialise and the ‘all-clear’ was given by Hazard Management Cayman a few hours later.

HMCI had earlier issued the tsunami threat as a precaution and urged the public to “stay safe and remain alert”.

“This was a large earthquake and we are thankful that no major damage has been reported on our Islands,” it said in an update.

The 7.6 earthquake was followed by a smaller 4.3 tremor.

The event also caused other countries in the western and eastern Caribbean to go on tsunami alert including Cuba, Jamaica, and parts of Central America, along with Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and other islands in the eastern Caribbean chain.

Low-lying, densely-populated Cayman with its extensive tourism infrastructure was seen as particularly at risk. This was reflected in the numerous international and regional news reports after the news broke about the strong undersea earthquake so close to the islands.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake occurred at around 6:23 p.m. Eastern Time, with an epicentre about 129 miles southwest of George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands, and 372 miles west of Kingston, Jamaica.

A short time later, the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. The advisory for those islands was later cancelled.

The US National Weather Service said in a social media advisory that “a one to three-foot tsunami is still an impressive force of nature capable of strong and unusual currents, impacting boats, harbours, and piers. It’s not a surf wave. Stay away from the coast in the advisory area.”

At the height of the alert, the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) said, “tsunami waves reaching 1 to 3 meters above the tide level are possible along some coasts of Cuba.” It added waves between 0.3 and 1 meter above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Honduras and Cayman Islands.

It also issued a tsunami threat for Cuba, Honduras and the Cayman Islands.

However, that was later withdrawn and updated as, “according to the latest modelling and information, the tsunami threat has passed for the entire region.”