PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Classes ended abruptly for some students of Buff Bay Primary in Portland on Monday after a section of the school was damaged by an earthquake whose epicentre was located about 10 km to the south of the town.

Principal Jacqueline Edwards explained that the damage was confined to a corridor near the canteen. The space was being used to accommodate some students so they were sent home for the day once things calmed down after the 5.6-magnitude quake.

Classes were not disrupted at Norwich Primary School but Acting Principal Joy Thompson spoke of the damage to the facility.

“A very scary moment for the family of Norwich Primary. We have some surface cracks in the roof of the newest block. The building officers from the ministry [of education] came and checked. There was shelling from the roof of our smart room — this is a result of leakage — and the quake further compromised areas,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Her staff, she said, had done their best to keep students calm.

“Students are back to their classes; teachers are now speaking to them to give some level of reassurance that they will be okay,” Thompson said Monday afternoon.

According to Observer sources, there was also damage at the Buff Bay courthouse. In addition, a house was damaged in Content, towards the west of Portland, and there were power outages in sections of Boundbrook and Stony Hill.