Earthquake Unit says no evidence of 5.2 quake in St Ann, but residents say they felt it
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Head of the Jamaica’s Earthquake Unit, Professor Simon Mitchell says there is no evidence of an earthquake occurring in the island on Friday morning.
In an interview with Nationwide Radio, the professor stated that the only earthquake recorded after checking the station in Pike, Manchester was one in the Philippines.
“This morning I looked at the actual record of earthquakes which we recorded in Jamaica from the station at Pike and there is only one earthquake on record [and] it is a large earthquake that happened in the Philippines a long, long way off. There is no other evidence of an earthquake in Jamaica, certainly not of a magnitude 5.2” Professor Mitchell said.
Residents in St Ann woke up to alerts on their cell-phones of a magnitude 5.2 earthquake said to have occurred 15 kilometres from St Ann’s Bay in St Ann around 5:36am. The alert also said Cuba was affected by the quake.
While some people said they did not feel an earthquake, others on social media reported feeling the tremor.
“I was up. I heard the rattling but was unsure I thought it was dogs in the garbage. When I got up after 6 and looked through the window I saw nothing so I was puzzled until I see this from the Observer,” one Instagram user said.
Another user said: “I’m in Portmore and felt my bed moved and thought I was getting dizzyish.”
“Wake up tell my family earthquake pass, and them say my nerves bad, I know my nerves not that bad,” another commented.
The last confirmed earthquake in Jamaica occurred on October 30. The magnitude 5.6 quake jolted the island causing minor damage to buildings, and a temporary collapse of the island’s telecommunication networks.
READ: WATCH: Minor damage after magnitude 5.6 earthquake, says Holness – PM urges Jamaicans to remain calm