October 30, 2023

UPDATE

Since publishing below that there were no reports of damage, we have since been sent images of damage to buildings. See below:

Badly damaged house outside Kingston

Cement works on fire near Kingston

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake has shaken Jamaica with no immediate reports of casualties or damage

From Reuters

Oct 30 (Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 struck near Hope Bay, Jamaica, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Monday, with no immediate reports of serious damage.

The quake was at a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said.

The island’s prime minister Andrew Holness said in a post on social media that he hoped “everyone is safe following that earthquake” following reports of intense shaking in parts of the country, but did not point to any signs of damage.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) originally measured the quake at 5.7.

Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru and Isabel Woodford in Mexico City, Editing by Franklin Paul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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A 5.4 magnitude earthquake has shaken Jamaica with no immediate reports of casualties or damage

From AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Jamaica on Monday, prompting people to flee buildings amid heavy shaking.

The earthquake was located about 2 miles (4 kilometers) west-northwest of Hope Bay, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It occurred at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers).

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquake prompted panic on the island. Members attending the International Seabed Authority meeting that began Monday could be seeing fleeing on camera before the broadcast cut off.

While small earthquakes are common in and around Jamaica — some 200 a year — large ones are rare. The devastating Port Royal earthquake occurred in 1692, with a portion of the town sinking into the sea. Then in 1907, a quake struck the capital, Kingston, killing more than 1,000 people. Another big quake was reported in March 1957, affecting mostly western Jamaica, according to the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.

The island sits atop the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone, which it shares with Haiti and the Dominican Republic, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

SOURCE: https://apnews.com/article/jamaica-earthquake-aac50d68b1b266b96d54dd37b118e0b7