Caribbean earthquake mapped: 12 islands under tsunami warning after 7.6 quake

12 islands have issued potential tsunami threats after an estimated 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean Sea on Saturday. 

While Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have both issued tsunami advisories, the surrounding countries and islands in the Caribbean have issued threat warnings.

This includes Colombia, Haiti, Belize, Saba, Aruba, Curacao, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Panama, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Honduras, Mexico, Bonaire, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Jamaica.

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The earthquake was felt 209 km southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.

However, an atmospheric scientist took to X to dispel any tsunami fears.

"It was shallow, with a depth of barely 7 miles," said Matthew Cappucci.

"This was a lateral 'strike slip' quake; minimal up/down motion, so very low tsunami threat," he said.

According to the USGS, "large earthquakes at this location of the plate boundary are not unexpected."

Ten earthquakes of estimated magnitude 6 or more have taken place within 250 km of the recent earthquake over the preceding century.

In 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 took place due to a similar mechanism leading to a small tsunami causing some damage.

According to the USGS ShakeMap, which uses estimates from various sources, only light shaking has been felt.

The National Weather Service said, "There is no tsunami danger for the U.S. east coast, the Gulf of Mexico states, or the eastern coast of Canada."

Earthquakes of this size are often notorious for generating "tsunamis dangerous to shorelines near the source," the NWS said, referring people to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for updates.