Major Earthquake in Martinique Felt on St Barth
The earth did indeed move on St Barth yesterday afternoon - for about two minutes. On Thursday afternoon, November 29, the strongest earthquake in the Caribbean in over 200 years struck Martinique (photo at left). The earthquake measured 7.4 on the Richter Scale and was centered at a depth of 90 miles in the Caribbean Sea between Martinique and Dominica. The strongest quake in the Caribbean measured 7.9 in 1766. The tectonic plate responsible for this activity is the Caribbean Plate, which underlies Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. Fortunately, because of the depth of the quake, no tsunami was predicted. Unofficial measurement of the activity in St Barth was 4.0.
I am not currently in St Barts, but a friend of mine was on Saline Beach during the earthquake.
He says that it felt really strange to be shaken back and forth, while sitting naked in the sand.
Posted by: Thibault Masson at December 5, 2007 1:08 PM