From CARIBBEAN360

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday July 20, 2015 – The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre says while the increased seismic activity in the Eastern Caribbean isn’t enough, on its own, to suggest something menacing is coming this way, there could be destructive earthquakes in the region in the future.

Well over a dozen earthquakes have been recorded around the same general area since last Thursday – between 97 km and 174 km northeast of Barbados – with the largest 6.4 magnitude quake in the morning felt by residents of that Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Vincent, and Trinidad.

Having had to field questions from many residents about whether the increased seismic activity is a precursor to a much larger and destructive quake, the Trinidad-based Seismic Research Centre used its Facebook page to respond to those concerns over the weekend.

“We live in a seismically active part of the world and earthquakes, both of the size and frequency which we are currently experiencing northeast of Barbados, are not unusual and do not by themselves suggest anything more menacing is coming,” it said.

“However, this region has had larger events in the past and we do expect to have large and possibly damaging events in the future, so please learn more about this hazard and take action to build your resistance to earthquakes.”

Earthquake Safety
It further pointed out that when a large magnitude earthquake occurs, it is normally followed by a large number of aftershocks.

“This is simply the earth adjusting to the stress changes that resulted from the earthquake,” the centre explained.

And it says the region has been experiencing more aftershocks then it has made public, acknowledging that only tremors larger than 3.8 magnitude have been posted online.

Eastern Caribbean earthquakes
In response to other questions posted by Facebook users, the centre also said there was absolutely no relation between the earthquakes and the underwater volcano Kick ’em Jenny located 8 km north of Grenada.

IMAGE:
IMAGE SHOWING SUMMARY PLOT OF EVENTS FOR THE NORTHEAST OF BARBADOS ZONE FROM JULY 16 TO PRESENT.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/increased-activity-no-sign-of-big-quake-in-the-making-seismic-unit-says#ixzz3gXBzlB4a