Last updated: Tuesday, July 30 at 5:31 a.m.
ST. THOMAS — A 4.4 magnitude earthquake rattled St. Thomas Sunday evening, sending residents under tables and ducking doorways for protection.
“It was very scary,” said Amrita Mootooveran of St. Thomas, “very scary. Our light fell off the ceiling. I stood under the door (praying).”
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck at 5:42 pm, about 3 miles southwest of St. Thomas , where the shaking felt most intense.
The V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency could not be reached for comment. (In a statement issued to The Consortium on Monday, the agency said VITEMA leadership along with its public information officer “are always accessible and forthcoming in providing the territory with the most [updated] information.)
There were no known immediate reports of damages or injury.
“This was a big one,” said Elizabeth LaPlace. “We get a lot of tremors that we don’t feel. This one was big.”
The Virgins Islands sits center court for seismic activity in the Caribbean. On Sunday alone, the USGS reported minor quakes, ranging in magnitude from 2.1 to 3.4, in British Virgin Island and Puerto Rican waters. Ten earthquakes rattled the Caribbean in the past 24 hours.
Earthquake experts have warned for years that the Caribbean is always at risk of earthquake because the region sits along major fault lines.
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