Magnitude 3.5 Earthquake Felt Across Several Jamaican Parishes

Jamaica experienced a magnitude 3.5 earthquake at 4:11 p.m. local time on Wednesday, and people in Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine reported feeling the movement.

The Earthquake Unit at The University of the West Indies, Mona, said the centre of the quake was about 15 kilometres south of Annotto Bay in St. Mary. The unit placed the focal depth at 18 kilometres below ground.

A 3.5 reading is classified as a minor earthquake on the Richter scale. It can be noticed by residents, but in ordinary conditions it is not expected to damage buildings.

The 18-kilometre depth is regarded as intermediate-shallow. That means the energy from the quake did not have far to weaken before reaching the surface, helping to explain why it was felt in more than one parish despite the moderate size of the event.

The UWI Earthquake Unit, which tracks seismic activity across the region, labelled the bulletin as preliminary. People who felt the tremor have been asked to send reports through the unit's online platform at arcg.is/1jT0qe0.

Jamaica lies in an active earthquake zone, where the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates meet, so tremors remain part of the island's geology.