Earthquake town hall meeting to be held in Portland
KINGSTON, Jamaica— A town hall meeting will be held in Portland next week, following Wednesday’s 4.2 magnitude earthquake.
The earthquake’s epicentre was located approximately five kilometres south of Hope Bay in the parish.
The disclosure was made by Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, during his opening remarks at the second Working Session of the National Disaster Risk Management Council held on Thursday (May 2) at AC Hotel by Marriott in Kingston.
“Again, the epicentre of the earthquake was in Portland. It is probably four out of four now in the same line in Portland, so there is a message to be given. So, I’m hoping that we will have a very successful and involved discussion on the various issues,” McKenzie said.
He said it is important that Jamaicans have a true understanding of the potential dangers when an earthquake strikes.
“I am convinced that we don’t. Some people are still of the belief that this is a God-blessed country and we are blessed beyond all the blessings and that everything that comes will pass us by,” McKenzie said.
Meanwhile, Head of the Earthquake Unit, Kevin Tankoo, shared that in 2023 there were 343 recorded earthquakes, 14 of which were felt.
Since the start of the year, there have been 77 earthquakes but only five have been felt.
“This is not an indicator of increase in seismicity in any way. However, we do see that record in eastern Jamaica again showing up, particularly in the Blue Mountain block and then as you go across into St Thomas into the Yallahs Enriquillo Plantain Garden fault block itself,” Tankoo said.
Citing a magnitude 3.3 tremor that was felt on April 10, with the epicentre located near Sanguinetti, Clarendon, Tankoo said “it highlights that different sections of the island are at different levels of seismic risk. As a result of this, we need to build differently, so it cannot be a standardised building parameter that we utilise. We have to tailor it and update it as more data becomes available”.
The high-level engagement of technical and policy members of the Council was held under the theme ‘Managing the Disaster Risk Landscape… charting a National Strategy’.
The National Disaster Risk Management Council’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 9.
-JIS
