Earthquake in Caribbean Sea Triggers Tsunami Advisories
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Caribbean has led to tsunami alerts for various coastal areas, with potential waves expected along the coasts of Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Honduras.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, approximately 200 km south of the Cayman Islands on Feb. 8, 2025.
The powerful quake, which occurred 10 km below the Earth's surface, led the National Weather Service's (NWS) Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to issue tsunami alerts for several coastal regions, including the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Bahamas, San Andres and Providencia, Belize, Haiti, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
Although many of the alerts have since been rescinded, there is a possibility of tsunami waves reaching 1-3 metres above tide level along parts of Cuba's coast, and 0.3-1 metre above tide level along specific areas of the coasts of the Cayman Islands and Honduras.
Tsunami advisories have also been declared for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
"Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis dangerous to shorelines near the source," stated the NWS.
The NWS also indicated that the earliest estimated time for hazardous sea level fluctuations and strong ocean currents to begin in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is 9:48 p.m. AST on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
