Minor Earthquake Rattles Kingston and Surrounding Areas

A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck Jamaica at 4:11 PM local time on Wednesday, with residents in Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine reporting feeling the tremor.

 

According to the Earthquake Unit at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, the epicentre was located approximately 15 kilometres south of Annotto Bay, St. Mary, at a focal depth of 18 kilometres beneath the earth's surface.

 

At magnitude 3.5, the quake falls within the minor range on the Richter scale — strong enough to be felt but unlikely to cause structural damage under normal circumstances. The 18-kilometre focal depth is considered intermediate-shallow, meaning the seismic energy had less distance to dissipate before reaching the surface, which explains why it was perceptible across multiple parishes despite its relatively modest magnitude.

 

 

 

The bulletin, marked preliminary, was issued by UWI's Earthquake Unit, which monitors seismic activity across the region. Residents who felt the earthquake are being encouraged to submit reports via the unit's online platform at https://arcg.is/1jT0qe0.

 

Jamaica sits along an active seismic zone where the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates interact, making earthquakes a recurring feature of the island's geology.