KINGSTON, Jamaica — Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Major Clive Davis is assuring Jamaicans that the threat of a tsunami to coastal areas, has now passed.

Many Jamaicans panicked last night after Jamaican authorities issued text messages and broadcasts that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coastal areas of the island after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Caribbean region between the coasts of Honduras and the Cayman Islands late yesterday.

According to weather sources, the quake occurred west of Jamaica at a depth of 10 kilometres.

ODPEM and the Ministry of National Security issued messages, putting the country on alert. Major Davis confirmed reports that the early warning system, which was set up in the coastal town of Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine in 2015, actually went into action and saw residents leaving their homes as a precaution.

Speaking with OBSERVER ONLINE a short while ago, Davis stressed that: “Up to this time my office is getting enquiries about whether the threat has passed. People are even asking whether rainfall is associated with it. The threat is gone and unless there is another earthquake in that vicinity of that magnitude under those conditions we don’t expect to have another threat message issued. I think they (Jamaicans) took it very seriously”.

At the same time, Major Davis warned against what he said were irresponsible postings on social media sites last night, stressing that only local authorities have the authority to place the country under a tsunami watch or warning, based on conditions here, and assessments.

Other territories that were told to be on alert for tsunami waves included Cuba, Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guatemala.

The earthquake, which was more intense than the 2010 quake that killed over 200,000 persons in the impoverished Caribbean island of Haiti, was also felt across northern and central America.

Alphea Saunders