Quake shakes Cayman Islands but no Haiti connection

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, January 20, 2010 – A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that rattled the Cayman Islands yesterday caused no major damage or injuries and despite it coming a week after the devastating Haiti earthquake, one expert says there’s no connection between the two.

The quake was the fourth significant one since last Tuesday’s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that flattened the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. One followed in Venezuela (5.6 magnitude) on Friday, then another of 6.3-magnitude off the south coast of Argentina on Sunday and a third measuring 6.0 rocked Guatemala and parts of El Salvador the day before the Cayman Islands quake.

But Director of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network Christa Von Hillebrandt-Andrade said there was no historic or scientific data to establish a link between the Cayman Island and Haiti earthquakes.

Yesterday’s quake occurred around 9:23 am, about 40 miles east south-east of George Town, the capital of Grand Cayman, at a depth of about 6.2 miles. Its location also placed it 195 miles west north-west of Montego Bay in Jamaica and some residents there felt the tremor.

In the Cayman Islands, people quickly evacuated buildings after feeling the shaking. However, Director of Hazard Management in the Cayman Islands McCleary Frederick gave the all clear for citizens to return to their homes just over half hour after the earthquake.

Business and schools remained open and residents resumed their normal daily routines in the British Overseas Territory.

“Obviously in light of what has happened in Haiti, our residents are very sensitive to this type of occurrence. We are fortunate that the Cayman Islands appears to have come through unscathed, but it is reminder for everyone that they need to know how to respond during an earthquake,” he said.

There were no reports of damage or injury in the other quakes that followed the Haiti tragedy.