Caribbean Nationals Take To Social Media To Share Earthquake Experience

By NAN News Editor

News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Weds. Aug. 21, 2018: Several Caribbean nationals marked themselves safe last night as they took to social media to share their experience following the massive 7.3 magnitude quake that struck northern Venezuela and impacted Trinidad and Tobago and was felt in Guyana, Colombia, Barbados and Grenada as well.

“I was at work … duck, cover and hold. It was very scary,” said Bridgette Williams of Trinidad on Facebook.

“Quite a few broken stuff and fallen things but thank God I’m standing solid,” Pat Thorne posted on FB while Kerry Ann Ellis said she was at the Trincity Mall’s food court when the ceiling began rocking and the floors started shaking.

“Stuff crashing and don’t know where the sound coming from. Just had to run. Was very scary,” she posted.

Clive Tilluckdharry said he had to run of his office building with patients while Carolyn Huggins-Lovell said she was sitting at her desk at work when the shaking began and intensified, opening desk drawers and causing objects to fall.

“Two minutes felt like a lifetime,” she said on FB. “Everyone then emerged from where they took cover and were panic stricken and in disbelief.”

Map of the August 21, 2018 quake from the USGS.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake hit about 30 miles from Guiria, Sucre, Venezuela around 5:30 p.m. Est. Damages were reported in Belmont and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad especially as the quake damaged buildings including supermarkets, stores and buildings as well as cars.

Several office buildings were evacuated, as ceilings fell; trees fell, and there were power outages in some areas of the country.

Tsunami warnings were initially issued for Venezuela, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago but then cancelled.

In Guyana, some reported feeling buildings and walls shaking and also losing power. People were seen running out of their offices and homes in Georgetown while residents in North West District, which is closer to Venezuela, reported also feeling the quake.

Many Caribbean nationals in the Diaspora expressed concern for nationals at home while those in Trinidad and Guyana largely thanked “God” for sparing their lives and the lives of their families.