Earthquake rocks St. Kitts and Nevis and rest of region
By Shawn Seabrookes
Senior Reporter-SKNVibes.com
Basseterre, St. Kitts: An earthquake, measured at 7.3 on the Richter scale, rocked St. Kitts and Nevis and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean, and as far south as Trinidad and Tobago, at 3 p.m. on today (Thursday), November 29th.
According to www.earthquake.usgs.gov the epicentre of the earthquake was given as latitude 14.921 degrees N and 61.264 degrees W, which is 40km or 25 miles north of Fort de France, Martinique. The depth of the quake was given as 145.4 kilometres below the earth’s surface.
Residents in St. Kitts and Nevis were forced to exercise safety antics when the earth shook for just over a minute.
Workers fled office buildings and congregated on the street and those who remained in the buildings crouched under desks or stood in doorways.
“This was the longest earthquake I have ever experienced,” a young employee of Travel World said.
“I was really scared,” one of her co-workers added.
As of now, no reports of damage have been confirmed.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) based in the United States, also said that there is no threat of a tsunami.
“A strong earthquake has occurred, but a tsunami IS NOT expected along the coasts of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico states, and Eastern Canadian provinces. NO tsunami warning or watch is in effect for these areas.”
“Based on the depth of the earthquake within the earth, a widespread damaging tsunami IS NOT expected along the Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S. Atlantic, Eastern Canadian and Gulf of Mexico coasts. At coastal locations which have experienced strong ground shaking, local tsunamis are possible due to underwater landslides.”
Reportedly, this is the third earthquake to rock the region for the week.
A comprehensive report of the quake will be posted shortly.
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map showing of epicentre of the earthquake
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