PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago continued to be rattled by earthquakes in recent days with the latest occurring on Sunday night when a tremor with a magnitude of 3.9 was also felt in neighbouring Grenada, the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has reported.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage caused by the quake, which occurred at 8:47 pm (local time), but the SRC said that its location was Latitude: 11.18 north, Longitude: 61.90 west and at a depth of 61 kilometres (km).
The SRC said that the tremor was felt 72 km north west of Port of Spain, 91 km NW of Arima in Trinidad and Tobago and 98 km south of St George’s, the Grenadian capital.
Earlier this month, the SRC warned that Trinidad and Tobago would experience moderate to strong earthquakes following the 6.9 quake that hit the oil rich twin island republic on August 21 sending people rushing into the streets in panic and causing damage to buildings.
“The earthquakes currently being recorded, in the Gulf of Paria, with some being felt, is in keeping with the pattern expected after such events. The other areas around Trinidad will continue to produce their normal annual magnitude output; on average, we expect just over 50 events of magnitude greater than 3.5 every year.
“In that context, given the two areas in the Gulf of Paria that are currently adjusting following significant magnitude earthquakes and the annual, expected events in the other, surrounding zones, the earthquake activity being seen is normal,” the SRC added.
The SRC warned Caribbean countries to ensure that all necessary measures are in place to respond appropriately to any large magnitude earthquake which may potentially cause significant damage and loss of life.