Magnitude 7.6 earthquake shakes western Caribbean

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rocked the western Caribbean on Saturday night, prompting a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that was soon canceled.  

The temblor struck at 6:23 p.m. ET at a depth of about 6 miles below ground, about 130 miles south-southwest of George Town, Cayman Islands, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There was also a tsunami threat in Cuba and the Cayman Islands, according to the survey.

A National Weather Service tsunami advisory urges residents in the covered area to take action because a tsunami with dangerous waves or currents is expected or happening, according to the agency.

“The Cayman Islands is under a Tsunami threat. Residents living near the coastline are encouraged to move inland,” the government of the Cayman Islands hazard management agency said.

The USGS initially measured the earthquake at a massive 8.0, but later reassessed its energy and determined it measured 7.6.

Because the temblor was located below an island surrounded by the Caribbean, according to USGS mapping, the agency said “little or no population” was exposed to the shaking.

The USGS placed the quake at a strike slip fault near the boundary between the North America and Caribbean tectonic plates.

“Large earthquakes at this location of the plate boundary are not unexpected,” the agency said in an analysis published on its website Saturday night.

It said 10 magnitude 6 or greater temblors have happened in the area in the last century. One of the most notable earthquakes in the region took place on Jan. 10, 2018, when a magnitude 7.5 temblor “caused some damage and a small tsunami,” the USGS said.

“Luckily, the remote location of these earthquakes limits the potential for significant damage due to shaking,” it said.