More Earthquakes Rattle Three Caribbean Nations

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY., Weds. Jan. 15, 2020: Three Caribbean nations were again rattled by earthquakes Tuesday.

The UWI Seismic Research Center said a magnitude 4.6 quake occurred 39 km SE of Roseau, Dominica, 54 km N of Fort-de-France, Martinique and 118 km N of Castries, Saint Lucia at around 8:17 p.m. last night.

The USGS also registered a 4.8 magnitude quake 19km SSE of Berekua, Dominica.

The latest quakes come on the heels of and as hundreds of a 3.3 quake in Dominica Monday and a magnitude 5.2 on Jan. 8th, which also occurred in Dominica as well as Martinique and Guadeloupe.

However, no injuries or damage was reported.

The recent seismic activity comes as over a thousand quakes have shaken Puerto Rico in recent weeks.

PUERTO RICO

More than 1,280 earthquakes have hit Puerto Rico’s southern region since Dec. 28, more than two dozen of them magnitude 4.5 or greater, according to the USGS. Among them was a 6.4 magnitude quake that hit on Jan. 7, killing one person and injuring nine others, and a 5.9 magnitude aftershock that occurred on Saturday, Jan. 11th, causing further damage.

Thousands of families have fled their homes, fearing the structures may collapse during an aftershock. They are sleeping in tents and tarps set up in stadiums, in fields and next to highways even as the island’s governor said the temblors caused an estimated $110 million in damage.

In an effort to put a stop to what they argue is the “illegal” and “unconscionable” withholding of necessary and vital aid to the people of Puerto Rico, New York Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez joined with Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday in demanding President Donald Trump immediately transfer already approved federal disaster assistance to address the island territory’s “urgent humanitarian needs” following  recent earthquakes and aftershocks.

Trump has yet to release more than $18 billion in aid that was approved for the island following the 2017 devastation caused by Maria.

Puerto Rico’s recent earthquakes will likely blunt economic growth and increase the bankrupt territory’s infrastructure needs, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.