MEXICO CITY — A magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook the Caribbean Sea southwest of Cayman Islands on Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Some Caribbean islands and Honduras urged people near the coastline to move inland or avoid beaches as a precaution in case of a tsunami.
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The quake struck at 6:23 p.m. local time in the middle of the sea and had a depth of 10 kilometres, the USGS said. Its epicentre was located 209 kilometres south-southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said there is no tsunami alert for the U.S. mainland but issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Cayman Islands government issued a tsunami threat alert and said in its social media channels that its “residents living near the coastline are encouraged to move inland.”
Honduran authorities said are no immediate reports of damages, but urged its residents to stay away from beaches in the next few hours, local media said.
The International Tsunami Information Center said “hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts of” Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Bahamas, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, San Andres Providence, Belize, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and Saba.