Jamaica recorded 70 aftershocks following 5.6 earthquake

Jamaica skilled some 70 aftershocks on Monday following the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the island at round 10:57 AM that very same day.

That is in line with Minister of Native Authorities and Group Growth, Desmond McKenzie, who acquired the knowledge from the Earthquake Unit on the College of the West Indies, Mona campus.

In his handle throughout Parliament on Tuesday, McKenzie stated the tremor was “the most important earthquake the nation would have skilled in over 50 years.”

He famous that whereas the studying was 5.6 on the Richter scale, the tremor had a most depth of seven.

The minister stated that the injury throughout all affected parishes was minimal and there was no reported lack of life.

“I used to be glad to report, primarily based on info from each private and non-private sector companions, that a lot of the injury to buildings and different infrastructure was largely superficial quite than structural,” he stated.

The epicenter of the quake was 4 kilometers from Hope Bay in Portland, Jamaica, with a depth of 10 km. In keeping with USGS, different affected international locations included Haiti, america Minor Outlying Islands, and Cuba.

Criticism of ODPEM’s response

As minister additionally liable for catastrophe administration, McKenzie additionally addressed criticism that the island’s Workplace of Catastrophe Preparedness and Emergency Administration (ODPEM) was sluggish to reply following the quake.

Many residents had identified on social media that a few of ODPEM’s social media pages had been inactive and no advisories had been put out within the hours following the earthquake.

However McKenzie stated that Jamaica’s fast response mechanism, which was developed to cope with disasters, was in operation inside half-hour of the incident.

“This rivals one of the best worldwide follow for instant catastrophe evaluation and emergency response. This occasion has served as an essential take a look at of our response capabilities and it was confirmed, Mr. Speaker, that the system works and that the ODPEM is on high of its sport,” he stated.

He additionally identified that the Chairman of the Nationwide Catastrophe Danger Administration Committee, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, had addressed the state of affairs in a video message shortly after the earthquake occurred.

Learn extra on the earthquake: