Two Moderate Earthquakes Shake Trinidad and Tobago Within 70 Minutes

Trinidad & Tobago: Two moderate earthquakes of magnitude 5.1 and 5.0 struck the country early morning on Monday, July 20. The quakes occurred about 70 minutes apart, one around 5:45 a.m. and another around 6:55 a.m. No damage or injuries have been reported.

The UWI Seismic Research Centre has confirmed that the tremors which occurred before 7:00 a.m. were felt across a wide geographic range, from San Fernando in southern Trinidad to Scarborough in Tobago.

The first quake struck at 5:45 a.m with a magnitude of 5.1, at approximately 23.7 km northeast of Scarborough, Tobago at a depth of 59.4 km. The epicentre was located 6.5 km northwest of Charlotteville and 13 km east-northwest of Castara. This quake was widely reported to be felt across Tobago and much of Trinidad.

Reportedly, this was the strongest earthquake recorded within 20 km of that spot in the instrumental record. 

The second quake, which occurred at 6:55 a.m. more than an hour apart from the first one, was recorded as 5.0 magnitude. It struck approximately 67.5 km northwest of Port of Spain, Trinidad at a depth of 80.1 km. Its epicentre was located 36.2 km north-northwest of Macuro and 51.1 km northeast of Guiria, Venezuela. 

No tsunami threats have been reported, and no injuries or damages resulted from the earthquakes.

The Tobago quake was reportedly a long low roll which lasted up to 55 seconds while the Trinidad quake was a sharper jolt pitched more than twice as high.

Moreover, the Trinidad quake was routine for where it occurred, while the Tobago quake was the strongest ever recorded within 20 km of it and struck outside all of the eight defined seismic zones.

Trinidad & Tobago along with the surrounding region are very seismically active. Across the Eastern Caribbean, over 2,200 earthquakes are recorded annually. 

Since 1990, and as of 2025, the UWI SRC has recorded an annual average of 260 earthquakes in the Trinidad & Tobago region with magnitudes greater than 2.0.

Most earthquakes occur northwest of Trinidad, in an area north of the Paria Peninsula, which has the second-highest seismicity in the Eastern Caribbean, and also within the Gulf of Paria.

According to the UWI SRC, around 100 quakes occur north of the Paria Peninsula annually, and 60 quakes occur within the Gulf of Paria.