PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The head of the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Joan Lutchman, Wednesday warned Trinidad and Tobago to be prepared for more aftershocks following Tuesday’s 6.1 magnitude earthquake that sent many people scampering out of their homes into the streets.

Lutchman said that since the earthquake late Tuesday evening, the country has experienced more than 100 aftershocks, but there have been no reports of injuries or severe damages.

The SRC had earlier revised its figure regarding the magnitude of the quake from 6.2.

She said that even though impact of Tuesday’s earthquake appears to be minimal “it should be noted that these earthquakes if they are located right under your population centres the damage can be very significant”.

She said a similar earthquake in Managua in 1972 destroyed the city and warned nationals not to view the earth tremors being experienced here over the months as being small because they can cause significant damage depending on where they are located.

She said she is worried of a repeat of the 1766 earthquake here that had a “devastating impact across Trinidad”.

Lutchman said there have been more than 100 aftershocks over the past 12 hours following Tuesday’s quake that caused items to be thrown of the selves of some supermarkets and reports in Tobago of minor damages to some buildings.

“We have actually had over 100 aftershocks associated with that event last evening. The aftershocks will continue for several months. We will have some that will be felt. We will have possibly an earthquake greater than magnitude five associated with this sequence that will definitely be fel …

“So we expect the aftershocks from this earthquake to continue for months. The one that we had on April 22, 1997, the aftershocks continued into November…but a high level of aftershocks continued for five months,” she added.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of the Office of Disaster and Preparedness Management (ODPM) Dr Steven Ramroop said Wednesday there is now a dire need for the implementation of a national building code in Trinidad and Tobago.

“We do not have a national building code and this is something we have been trying to get in this country for many years and we hope to God what happened yesterday we will have a greater stimulus towards developing that national building code.

“Buildings are what kill people. Not the earthquake…and building codes are going to be very very important in terms of going forward and saving a lot of lives,” he told television viewers.