Mexico City: A magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook the Caribbean Sea southwest of Cayman Islands on Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey. Some Caribbean islands and Honduras urged people near the coastline to move inland or avoid beaches as a precaution in case of a tsunami.
The quake struck at 6:23 pm. local time in the middle of the sea and had a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said. Its epicenter was located 130 miles (209 kilometers) south-southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said there is no tsunami alert for the US mainland but issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The Cayman Islands government issued a tsunami threat alert and said in its social media channels that its “residents living near the coastline are encouraged to move inland.” Honduran authorities said are no immediate reports of damages, but urged its residents to stay away from beaches in the next few hours, local media said.
The International Tsunami Information Center said “hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts of” Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Bahamas, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, San Andres Providence, Belize, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and Saba.
