United States geological survey (USGS) said Tuesday, 28 January, at 19:10 in the Caribbean, a powerful earthquake by force 7,7 points. This was followed by a statement from the Pacific center of tsunami warning (PTWC). During the disaster were evacuated employees of the several offices in Miami (Florida) and in some parts of Jamaica.
Initially, the PTWC said «hazardous tsunami waves» may appear off the coast located within 300 km from the earthquake epicenter. In this radius located within Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
A small wave was seen in Georgetown in the Cayman Islands. It has reached the height of 0.11 meters. In the update, which was released on 28 January at about 20:45 GMT PTWC said that «the threat of a tsunami largely passed.»
Security footage shows bottles come crashing down in a Cayman Islands store as a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the Caribbean. https://t.co/z3WvyvEdsH pic.twitter.com/Lf5HM4NkUT
— ABC News (@ABC) January 29, 2020
The earthquake occurred between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba to a depth of 10 km throughout the Caribbean were felt shaking and tremors, but reports of casualties were reported.
The cause of the earthquake was the friction between the tectonic plates of North America and the Caribbean. Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones tweeted: «Jamaican earthquake of M7.7 caused a lateral movement along the fault so the tsunami risk is low.»
The epicenter was located 125 km North-West of Lusei, Jamaica.
A small #tsunami was observed at George Town, Cayman Islands, measuring 0.11 meters (0.4 feet). The tsunami threat has now passed following today’s 7.7 magnitude #earthquake in the Caribbean: https://t.co/JIzfU8Mo8B pic.twitter.com/aTRXklTuBn
— Zachary’s Weather (@ZacharysWeather) January 29, 2020
It was reported tremors in Havana, Cuba, Kingston, Jamaica and Miami is about 708 km from the epicenter.
«I felt the house shaking, and realized that it was an earthquake,» said a resident of Kingston Jawara Racers.
Machel Emanuel, a physician from the same city, he added: «I was on the second floor of the building, and the building was constantly shaken. My head was spinning. The door clapped».
Many local residents noted that water was splashed out of the pools during the quake.
#Earthquake shakes #Jamaica after magnitude 7.7 hits the #Caribbean seapic.twitter.com/pmvfoDePnd
— ISCResearch (@ISCResearch) January 28, 2020
The Cayman Islands government has issued a warning to «move away from coastal areas», but a few hours later, it was rejected.
Twitter government of the Cayman Islands stated that «there were only a few reports of structural damage to buildings», and as a precaution was open shelter.
Now it is unlikely that a destructive tsunami will occur near the Cayman Islands. There is now a very low risk. Information from the Center for the tsunami warning indicates that the first wave has already passed through the Cayman Islands.
Now the main threat stems from the possibility of aftershocks. After an earthquake measuring 7.7 points, was recorded two earthquakes in the region.
Lots of activity in the Caribbean over the last 24 hours. There have been two major earthquakes since the magnitude 7.7 quake shook the region. #earthquake pic.twitter.com/D3txy9OaAG
— Bay News 9 Weather (@bn9weather) January 28, 2020
