ST. JOHN’S — A strong earthquake rocked the Caribbean a short time ago; fortunately, the earthquake wasn’t large enough to generate a tsunami and there is no tsunami threat at this time.
The quake, originally classified as a magnitude 4.9 earthquake, struck at 6:47 p.m. Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The USGS reviewed data and lowered the magnitude of the actual quake down to a 4.6 magnitude quake.
The earthquake struck 21 miles northwest of Antigua and Barbuda. USGS said the earthquake struck at a depth of approximately 57 miles.
The National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii issued a bulletin to announce there’s no risk of tsunami from this earthquake.
“An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 occured about 169 miles southeast of Virgin Gorda at 6:47 pm AST…based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the British Virgin Islands from this earthquake,” said the bulletin released by the Tsunami Warning Center. They added, “People may have experienced shaking from the earthquake.”
People across the central and eastern Caribbean agreed with that assessment, going onto social media to let people know they felt the earthquake.
The region was seismically active on Saturday.
In the last 24 hours, there were eight earthquakes registering as a magnitude of 2.5 or greater in the Caribbean.
A 3.8 earthquake near Boca de Yuma in the Dominican Republic while 6 other earthquakes ranging from 2.6 to 3.7 struck in or around Puerto Rico.