The region is in a period of elevated earthquake activity, seismologist Dr Joan Lutchman said.
Lutchman said this in a telephone interview following an earthquake which was felt in T&T and at around 10.24 pm on Wednesday.
“We have been having several earthquakes in the region, with the most taking place in the Leeward islands,” Lutchman said.
In fact, following Wednesday’s earthquake, there were two earthquakes within hours of each other yesterday, one near Basseterre, St Kitts and the other near Martinique.
The first earthquake near Basseterre was a magnitude 3.8, while the second had a magnitude of 4.3.
“The activity is a little elevated but sometimes that i what happens, we go through periods of elevated activity,” Lutchman said.
Lutchman said Wednesday’s earthquake took place North of the Paria Peninsula, off the coast of Venezuela and was felt as far south as Penal, and in areas such as Sangre Grande and Diego Martin.
“It was a moderate event. If it was a little closer to us it would have given us quite a shock,” Lutchman said.
“Our island is in an active zone so we will experience earthquake activity.”
By the numbers
The UWI Seismic Research Centre provided the following details on Wednesday’s earthquake.
DATE AND TIME:
2015-04-15 10:24 pm (Local Time)
MAGNITUDE:
5.4
LOCATION:
Latitude: 10.77N
Longitude: 62.39W
Depth: 10 km
NEARBY CITIES:
93 km E of Carúpano, Venezuela
98 km W of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
118 km NW of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago