Magnitude 5.3 earthquake rattles Jamaica

By Nakinskie Robinson  

 

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was felt in Jamaica about 8:01 Friday morning.

 

According to the Earthquake Unit, the epicentre was located approximately 6 kilometres north east of Golden Spring, St. Andrew.

 

People all across the island have reported feeling the quake, with vendors in the Brown's Town market in St. Ann temporarily abandoning their stalls during the shaking.

 

This is the second quake registered in Jamaica so far this week.

 

On Monday afternoon, a minor earthquake of magnitude 2.9 was felt in Mavis Bank, St. Andrew at 3:51.

 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, several Caribbean countries, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and people in the Barbados capital were impacted by a 4.2 magnitude quake.

 

This followed one with a magnitude of 3.5 two days earlier, which rattled Dominica, St. Lucia and Martinique. 

 

Chairman at the Scientific Research Council, Dr. Parris Lyew-Ayee Jr., has moved to reassure the public that there is no need to panic over the frequency of tremors across the Caribbean. 

 

"You can't predict an earthquake.... [It] can happen anytime. But the thing is, this isn't bad, you want these small little jolts, rather than the pressure building up and you have a big one. So we should be grateful we're having these small ones, not having a big, big, massive thing," he reasoned.