(Trinidad Guardian) There have been no reports of major damage following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked Trinidad at 11.58 pm on Saturday.
According to the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, the quake hit Carúpano, Venezuela, but was felt across Trinidad. The rocking lasted between 30 and 35 seconds and the rumblings, produced by seismic waves, were heard by some people before it was felt.
The quake had a latitude of 10.83°N, longitude of 62.37°W and a depth of 46 kilometres. This placed the quake at 97 kilometres west-northwest of Port-of-Spain.
Yesterday, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the nation had avoided destruction from the quake. He said the experts told him this may have been due to the depth of the earthquake.
“As at this time, there have been no reports of any major damage, or injury, or worst still, death. The reports have been all very, very favourable in the context of a 6.2. We can only be very, very thankful,” he said.
“Trinidad and Tobago escaped the worst consequences of an earthquake of that magnitude.”
However, even with all members of the public and most properties remaining intact, he warned, “The point is, we must not be complacent. We must continue to improve our building codes, our standards. People must adhere to them.”
Meanwhile, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales confirmed there were power outages following the quake after two of the country’s main substations in Diego Martin, Santa Cruz and one in La Fillette were impacted. However, he said there was no damage.
“They went out of operation, not because of any damage done to any of T&TEC’s infrastructure but because of the shake, it did cause a disruption to electricity and some communities were without electricity for about half an hour to 45 minutes,” he said.
Gonzales said the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission restored electricity in under an hour and reiterated that T&TEC and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) did not face any infrastructural damage.
All health authorities in Trinidad, including the Eastern, North Central, North West and South West RHAs, said they had no damage to their buildings or equipment.
The UWI-SRC said there were four aftershocks yesterday following the earthquake. The largest measured 4.0 on the Richter scale at 5.51 am, the second largest a 3.9 around 3.47 am, the third a 3.7 at 8.01 pm and the fourth a 3.5 at 5.25 pm.
On August 21, 2018, T&T experienced a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, with shaking that lasted around 90 seconds. It had a depth of 86 kilometres, with damage to several buildings and property being reported.
Aftershocks are themselves earthquakes but occur in the hours, days, months and sometimes as long as a few decades after the initial earthquake. They are smaller and usually occur near the original quake.
There was no tsunami threat as a result of Saturday night’s earthquake, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the chief organisation responsible for advising Caribbean nations on tsunami threats within the region, did not issue any statements.
