5.2 magnitude earthquake hits Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda & Dominica

Antigua and Barbuda: Three island countries of the Caribbean Region – Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica has been hit by a 5.2 earthquake on Thursday night. Although, till now, there has been no report of destruction or casualties so far.

The Trinidad-based Seismic Research Centre – (SRC) of the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has informed that the earthquake occurred around 8.43 pm (local time) and was at a depth of – 10 kilometres (km).

The earthquake was felt 79 km northeast of Point-a Pitre, the capital of the French island of Guadeloupe, 84 km southeast of St. John’s – the capital of Antigua and Barbuda & 173 km of Roseau – the capital of Dominica. The SRC has stated that the earthquake was located at Latitude: 16.84N and Longitude: 61.14W.

SRC noted that the latest quake followed one with a magnitude of 3.2 was on September 6, 2021. There have been 114 earthquakes of magnitude greater than 4.2 in the Caribbean region over the past month. The Caribbean has plates moving in the different directions that offer to it being highly seismic. These earthquakes have nothing in common other than their geological cause.

Recently, Haiti was rocked with an earthquake of 7.2 magnitudes which destroyed more than 53,000 buildings, including schools, homes, churches and other infrastructure. A total of 2,189 people died in the earthquake. Haiti is already facing political instability, gang violence and high crime-rate.

Most of the earthquakes happening in the Eastern Caribbean are either tectonic or volcanic in origin. Since magma is less dense than the surrounding rock, it rises to the surface, breaking the rock as it moves, generating earthquakes.

No official statements have been made by the officials or the governments of these three earthquake hit countries.