Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, in a post to his Facebook page, cautioned the Caribbean region to remain alert for possible significant aftershocks following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake north of Honduras on Saturday.
The Prime Minister, who has a Doctorate in Geology, said we are lucky to have experienced such a big shake at shallow depth without it causing any damage or destruction.
He noted the Cayman Trench structural fracture zone remains an active plate margin of the small but well-defined Caribbean plate, so the potential for significant seismic activity in the region remains a natural hazard that comes with the territory.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDEMA) late on Saturday gave the all-clear for islands that were placed under a tsunami warning following the earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 that occurred north of Honduras.
A possible tsunami threat was initially forecast for 20 countries, including seven CDEMA Participating States – The Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands – and within 12 minutes revised it to 13 countries, including five CDEMA Participating States: The Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Haiti, and Jamaica.