The Cayman Islands, still struggling to recover from the ravages of Hurricane Ivan in September, was Tuesday evening jolted by a strong earthquake that rattled windows and sent residents fleeing into the streets, but caused no major damage, authorities said yesterday.

Government spokeswoman Patricia Ebanks said there were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage.

The temblor registered 6.7 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey based in Golden, Colorado. The initial quake lasted about 10 seconds and small aftershocks were felt for more than a half hour, residents said.

Jamaica's Earthquake Unit at the University of the West Indies, Mona, said tremors from the quake were felt in Havendale, Half Way Tree and New Kingston. The unit said yesterday that it had recorded 11 aftershocks of magnitude four or lower.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located 20 miles (32 kilometres) south-southeast of George Town. It was the strongest tremor to hit the Cayman Islands since 1900, the US Geological Survey reported.

"I got out of my house as fast as I could. I thought a plane was coming at us," said Maxine Drake from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who resides part-time in Grand Cayman.

It was also one of several to strike the region in the last month, but seismologists said the quakes were unrelated. Activity in the Caribbean, however, had been high.

A temblor with a magnitude of 5.7 jolted the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Saturday. No injuries were reported and there was little damage.

Another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4, however, caused at least 90 aftershocks on December 3 in Trinidad, leaving at least one woman dead and damaging several buildings and houses.

Last month, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the Caribbean island of Dominica caused an estimated US$20 million (Eastern Caribbean $54.4 million) worth of damages. It also struck in Guadeloupe where a 5 year-old girl was killed and dozens of homes were damaged.

The Cayman Islands has been plagued with disaster this year, recently releasing an estimate of hurricane damage caused by Hurricane Ivan at more than US$3 billion.

The storm tore through the wealthy British territory in September, destroying 70 per cent of buildings and damaging many hotels. Many residents were forced to move to Grand Cayman's sister islands - Little Cayman and Cayman Brac - which received little damage.

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