Quake shakes Virgin Islands

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, October 13, 2008 – There were no reports of significant damage or injury as residents of both the British and United States Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico, were shaken by a strong earthquake over the weekend.

The 6.1 magnitude quake which hit on Saturday morning, occurred about 50 miles north-northwest of the BVI capital, 55 miles north of the USVI capital, Charlotte Amalie, and 100 miles east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was the strongest to hit Puerto Rico in 20 years and came on the 90th anniversary of the worst tremor ever recorded in the US Caribbean territory – a magnitude 7.3 quake that killed 118 people.