Earthquake rocks St. Kitts & Nevis and east Caribbean

An earthquake was felt on St. Kitts & Nevis and other islands of the Eastern Caribbean at around 3:30 pm local time (3:30 pm EDT) on Saturday. According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake was located 37 km (23 miles) east of Saint-Barthélemy, and 79 km (49 miles) north north east of Basseterre, St Kitts.

The University of the West Indies Seismic Center based in Trinidad confirmed that the earthquake occurred at 3:31 pm local time on April 19, 2014, east of Anguilla. The event magnitude was 5.3 and was located at a depth of 29 km (18 miles).

The quake comes 2 months after the last reported earthquake in the Caribbean. Barbados has been rocked by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of the island in February this year. No tsunami alert was issued then nor were there reports of injuries or fatalities. Tremors were also felt in St Lucia.

Three days later, on February 21, a 5.1-magnitude seismic event occurred near Aruba. Experts suggest that, though both these earthquakes did not cause much damage, they are a reminder that the Caribbean remains a very active seismic zone, prone to earthquakes.

In neighboring regions of Central and South America there have been 3 earthquakes registered already this month, the most recent a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Mexico on Good Friday. No deaths were recorded. On April 1, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Chile, causing six deaths. This was followed by a 7.7 quake also in Chile but no deaths were recorded.

Source: West Indies News Network