Massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Caribbean

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A massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake has struck the Caribbean Sea, prompting a tsunami warning for nearby islands including the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

The tremor, one of the largest to hit the Caribbean in recorded history, struck on Tuesday night at about 9.51pm just over 25 miles from the coast of Great Swan Island, belonging to Honduras.

The earthquake had a depth of 6.2 miles and rocked several Central American nations.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami advisory was put in place for hurricane-hit Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and warned of possible waves up to three feet above tide level.

There were also fears waves could potentially impact the coasts of Central American nations, including Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. However, the warnings were later canceled and in the end, no tsunami materialized.

Warnings were issued after what was one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean in modern times. The 2010 quake that devastated Haiti killing more than 200,000 people was magnitude 7.0.

The US National Weather Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned ‘hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1,000 kilometers of the earthquake epicenter’. It later said this threat had passed.

The quake rattled windows in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, which is roughly 323 miles to the east, while officials said there were some reports of cracks in homes in Colon and Atlantida provinces along the northern coast and Olancho in the east.

Firefighters said some residents in southern neighborhoods fled their homes after feeling the shaking.

The northern coast of Honduras closest to the quake’s epicenter is sparsely populated, with much of it covered by nature reserves.

Puerto Rico (above) and other Caribbean islands are still recovering from the devastating hurricane that struck in September last year

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5253011/Massive-7-6-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-Caribbean.html#ixzz53n1lQ3KT

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