Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake Shakes Northeastern Caribbean

Residents across parts of the Eastern Caribbean were jolted awake before dawn on Monday after a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck offshore.

The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC) reported that the tremor occurred at 5:16 a.m. local time at a depth of 24 kilometres beneath the earth’s surface.

The quake’s epicenter was located near latitude 16.77N and longitude 61.29W, placing it about 64 kilometres northeast of Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, and 72 kilometres southeast of St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

While the shaking was felt in several territories, there were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage.

Earthquakes of this size are not unusual in the seismically active Eastern Caribbean, though they often serve as reminders of the region’s vulnerability.