Source: http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000113/011308.htm

Dr Barbara Carby, Director of Hazard Management Cayman Islands

February 7, 2007 (Caribbean Net News) - A Strong earthquake struck the eastern Caribbean on Sunday, 4 February, according to the Earthquake Unit at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

The earthquake measured a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale and occurred east of the Cayman Islands and 75 Miles north-north west of Montego Bay, Jamaica at 3:56pm.

No damage has been reported, but some residents in the George Town area told Cayman Net News they felt tremors.

Dr Barbara Carby, Director of Hazard Management Cayman Islands, indicated a shift along the plate margin caused the tremor. “This earthquake is definitely associated with the northern boundary of the Caribbean Plate,” she said.

Dr Carby also said there had been a number of aftershocks, which had been detected by seismometers.

Located at 19.4N and 78.3W — between the Sister Islands (Little Cayman and Cayman Brac) and Cuba — the earthquake was also registered in Cuba and Jamaica.

Dr Margaret Grandison of the Earthquake Unit in Jamaica, located at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, told Cayman Net News that the earthquake, which was also felt in Jamaica, occurred over the Oriente Fracture Zone which runs from Grand Cayman to south-west Cuba.

Dr Grandison said a similar earthquake occurred in this location in May 1992.

The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center also confirmed reports of the Sunday afternoon earthquake.

The Center reported the earthquake was also felt on the southern coast of the eastern provinces of Granma and Santiago, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

“It was mild, the earth shook a bit. People who were walking did not even feel it,” said a receptionist at a hotel in the town of Niquero.

“The floor started moving and it felt as if I had been drinking rum,” said a housewife in Santiago, Cuba’s second-largest city. No damage was reported in the area.

Ronald Jackson, acting director general of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, who located the quake’s epicenter in the Cayman Trench, said,

“Almost the entire island felt it.” He also said the area around Montego Bay, the heart of Jamaica’s tourism industry, felt the most significant tremors.

“We have not picked up any damage reports at this time,” Mr Jackson said.

In the event of an earthquake, Dr Carby advises residents of the Cayman Islands to protect themselves against falling objects.

She said individuals should “stand in a corner between two walls or grouch down next to a sturdy piece of furniture.”

“Try to protect your head and shoulders by using a chair or a folder for coverage,” said Dr Carby.

She advises individuals to make every attempt to move away from glass.

After the earthquake, persons should evacuate the building via the stairs, not the elevators.

They should stand, “outside in an open area, away from trees, power lines, and buildings. In other words, anything that could topple over in the event of an aftershock.”

Contact: -athaliah@caymannetnews.com