KINGSTON — Barbados and Jamaica were both rocked by earthquakes just hours apart today.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Barbados at around 11:26 AM local time. No immediate injuries or damage was reported.
The quake occurred some 30 miles (50 kilometers) south-southwest of the capital of Bridgetown at a depth of 24 miles (39 kilometers).
Posts on social media indicated that residents felt the tremors in Christ Church, St. Philip, St. John, St. Michael and surrounding areas.
The Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies said the quake’s location also put it 160 km east of Kingstown, St Vincent, and 179 km southeast of Castries, St. Lucia.
Meanwhile an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 rattled parts of Jamaica at 1:27 p.m. today.
Residents in Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. Thomas, and Portland reported feeling the quake.
The earthquake was located approximately 10km south of Hope Bay in Portland. It had a focal depth of 4.3 miles, according to the Earthquake Unit in Jamaica.