On Monday afternoon, things felt a little shaky on island when a massive 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit the North Atlantic Ocean around 4:28pm.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was on the shallower side – only 10 kilometers (a little over 6.2 miles).
A second earthquake was recorded just over a half an hour at 5:00pm with a magnitude of 4.2.
If you didn’t feel the quake, don’t be alarmed. Sometimes you might mistake the shakes for something else. Yesterday afternoon, I was standing while my husband was sitting. He immediately froze and said that an earthquake was happening, meanwhile I blamed the loud rumbles on a truck driving by. When the shaking from the truck was still rumbling strong long after the truck had left, I finally accepted my defeat and told my husband that he was right.
So how do you prepare for the unpredictable? The best thing you can do is secure things in your home ahead of time. Make sure heavy items are not in an area where they could be a dangerous obstacle or where they could fall and cause damage. You might also want to consider storing breakable items at a lower level. The Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency has some great tips that are territory-specific and important to review, even if you feel confident in your preparedness.
There are currently no tsunami concerns in the Virgin Islands. If ever there are tsunami concerns, VITEMA will send out separate alerts. You can sign up for VITEMA alerts here.