The Virgin Islands was hit shortly after midnight yesterday by an earthquake that measured 5.14 on the Richter scale, according to the Department of Disaster Management.
“It actually woke me up,” said Linton Leonard, DDM information and education manager.
The DDM received real-time updates from the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, he said, and sent out a press release shortly after the quake. PRSN reports indicate the magnitude and location of an earthquake, and whether there’s a tsunami risk, he said.
“That information was available almost immediately,” he said, and there was no risk of a tsunami, nor was any damage reported as a result of the quake.
The earthquake was centred about 26 kilometres north-northeast of Anegada, 55 kilometres north-northeast of Virgin Gorda and 207 kilometres east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at a depth of 31 kilometres, according to information from the PRSN.
See the April 14, 2011 edition for full coverage.