*** UPDATE: No tsunami threat to the US Gulf Coast ***
A very powerful earthquake has struck the Caribbean Sea nearly perfect in-between Belize (Central America) and Cuba and Jamaica. The USGS is currently determining if there is a tsunami threat for the local region and if that threat could spread north into the Gulf of Mexico and potentially affecting the Gulf Coast of the US. For now, no alert has been raised, which is good news at this point.
Latest information has the epicenter of the quake located at 17.8ºN 82.5ºW, or about 209 kilometers south-southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands. Current magnitude is at 7.6 with an epicenter depth of 21 miles. The time of quake occurred at 5:23PM CST this evening.
If there has been tsunami wave formation, the earliest that we could see those waves impacting Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands will be as early as 7:48PM CST tonight. The good news so far is that tsunami waves have not been detected yet; however, monitoring continues to further evaluate the tsunami threat. And at this point, the tsunami impact reaching the US Gulf Coast is very, very low.
So far, no reports of damage to any locations close by, but I’ll continue to track the latest updates and keep you informed this evening.
