Saturday Earthquake in Jamaica; some feel the tremble

By Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Jamaica, April 17, 2023 – A 4.6 magnitude earthquake struck Jamaica on Saturday April 15, 2023, at around 4:35pm, the epicenter approximately 43 kilometers from Kingston; this was reported by the Earthquake Unit at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The phenomenon was felt across sections of Haiti, The Bahamas, and Cuba.  Minor Outlying islands of The United States also experienced the tremors.

There weren’t any reported major effects of the earthquake on residents throughout the island or the other affected islands.

The convulsion follows the written JIS report on March 29, 2023, and the audio report on April 03, 2023, that urged Jamaicans to “be prepared for the natural disaster.”

The audio report presented by Anjuii James Sawyers, highlighted  that Jamaica is prone to “seismic activity” due to its closeness to the Northern Boundary of the Caribbean plate which interacts with the North American plate.

According to Karleen Black, Scientific Officer at UWI Mona’s  Earthquake Unit, Jamaica experiences earthquakes almost every day.

Sawyer indicated that hundreds of tremors occur yearly, however, the earthquake unit will only report on the ones that are felt, within 30 minutes or less according to Black.

Considering this, last year the unit detected  173 earthquakes, eight of which were felt.

Luckily, the earthquakes that happen on the island are usually small in nature, ranging from magnitude 1 to 3 and sometimes, maybe around every decade, magnitude 4 or 5, as stated by Black, in the JIS report.

This is due to the type of plate boundary that Jamaica is located on, a transform boundary, which is two plates sliding past each other.

Despite this, she strongly urges Jamaicans to be prepared for earthquakes at any moment given that it is easy to have a false sense of safety given the country’s history with the natural disaster.

She further informed that Jamaica has only had two major earthquakes in its history that are the famous July 1692 earthquake that took down Port Royal and that of January 1907, that wreaked havoc on Kingston.

Some essentials to have in order to be prepared in case of an earthquake are food that doesn’t require cooking, water supply that can last a few days to week or more, a kit with personal medical supplies such as painkillers and general items such as recommended by Black.

Richard Thompson, Acting Director General, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), in addition to what Ms. Black said, encouraged Jamaicans to follow the recommended protocol of ‘drop, cover and hold’ and to get under something strong enough to withstand the tremors for people inside a building.

For those outside, it is recommended that they find an open area away from buildings, trees, powerlines or any large object that can fall on and injure them.

Earthquakes are unpredictable, they can happen at anytime, anywhere and so, it  crucial that we understand the seriousness of the event and are adequately prepared.