#Kingston, March 26, 2025 – The Earthquake Unit (EQU) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is advancing technology to strengthen Jamaica’s earthquake monitoring and early warning systems.
Head and Research Fellow at the EQU, Kevin Tankoo, told JIS News that the country has transitioned from the analogue sensors predominantly used in the early 2000s to monitor earthquake activity.
“Jamaica is quite advanced regionally. We are at the stage where we have upwards of 14 to 15 broadband digital seismographs that record any sort of ground shaking. These can be utilised for local, regional, the tele-seismic or the global context,” he said.
Mr. Tankoo further highlighted that Jamaica now has strong motion sensors or accelerographs, which have been installed both in the ground and buildings, to help in determining risk levels in different areas.
“This will assist [to determine] if we need to retrofit for the type of shaking that you can get. This helps us understand your hazard level at a particular site. In recent times, we would have also initiated a project where we are collaborating on the ground, more at a community level and with the parish disaster coordinators; and we have installed 11 sensors across the island as a complementary and a redundant system to be able to monitor earthquakes,” he pointed out.
Sensors have, so far, been installed in Kingston, St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Portland, St. Ann, St. James and Westmoreland.
“We have about six more… that we’ve already identified locations [for],” Mr. Tankoo added.
He further informed that the system can be accessed via an app, which provides real-time seismic waveform signals and information on fault lines.
A fault refers to a crack or fracture in the Earth’s crust where two blocks of rock have moved past each other.
Faults form due to tectonic forces, which cause stress and strain in the Earth’s crust. When the stress becomes too great, it releases in the form of an earthquake
“We continue to build out this network and we would be very interested in understanding a bit more, in terms of the faults and the nature of these faults. This is where the research actually comes into play, tying in with our seismic data collected from the monitoring system,” Mr. Tankoo said.
The EQU is Jamaica’s hub for earthquake monitoring and seismic research. It plays a vital role in understanding seismic processes, advising on earthquake hazards and promoting mitigation.
Contact: Jermi-Lee Nelson
Release : JIS
