By: Staff Writer
February 11, 2025
Director of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre Dr Euroscilla Joseph said that the earthquake the shook most of the Northern Caribbean was “not usual,” and further precautions need to be taken to have early warning systems for the entire Caribbean.
Dr Joseph was speaking to Caribbean Magazine Plus after a 7.6 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday and triggered a tsunami advisory in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all the way up to The Bahamas
She said that there is a need for improved tsunami preparedness in the Caribbean. The UWI Seismic Research Center is responsible for monitoring English-speaking Eastern Caribbean islands.
Officials say the earthquake’s epicentre was about 20 miles (32.1km) north of Honduras and 130 miles (209.2km) south-west of the Cayman Islands when it struck on Saturday evening local time.
The US Tsunami Warning System had initially issued warnings to more than a dozen of countries – including waves of up to three metres (10ft). But, it later said the threat had passed.
Dr Joseph further highlighted the rarity of such earthquakes in the region and the urgency for preparedness due to the short warning times for potential tsunamis.
The lack of a dedicated Caribbean Tsunami Warning Center necessitates reliance on the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Funding and government commitment are identified as major challenges to expanding and sustaining monitoring systems, which are crucial for early detection and response to natural disasters in the region.
She also said: “Understand that the UWI Seismic Research Center, we are only responsible for monitoring the islands of the English speaking Eastern Caribbean. So that is St Kitts and Nevis all the way down to Trinidad, minus the French islands. So, in terms of our capacity and monitoring network, it’s far north as St Kitts and Nevis.”
Dr Joseph also said: “if there is an event in the Caribbean region that does generate a tsunami, there is very little time for warning. The time citizens would get would be minutes, depending on the location, it may even be less than that.”