A SERIES of five earthquakes, including one measuring 5.0 magnitude, struck northeast of Antigua in less than 24 hours, the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) reported.

The seismic activity began Friday evening at 17:11 hrs with the strongest tremor – a magnitude 5.0 earthquake – recorded approximately 60 kilometres northeast of St John’s. This was followed by four additional quakes ranging from magnitude 3.7 to 4.4, with the most recent occurring at 05:48hrs on Saturday.

According to the UWI-SRC’s automatic earthquake detection system, all five events occurred within a relatively concentrated area, at depths between 14 and 18 kilometres below the surface. The epicenters were located between 55 and 73 kilometres northeast of St. John’s, Antigua.

The sequence of events was as follows:

17:11hrs Friday: Magnitude 5.0
18:32hrs Friday: Magnitude 4.0
19:11hrs Friday: Magnitude 3.7
00:26hrs Saturday: Magnitude 3.8
05:48hrs Saturday: Magnitude 4.4

While the earthquakes were also detected in neighbouring islands, including Montserrat and St. Kitts-Nevis, they were located significantly further from these territories – approximately 110-136 kilometres away.

The UWI-SRC noted that the preliminary locations were automatically calculated and may be subject to revision pending evaluation by their analysts. (Loop)