A moderate earthquake struck the northeastern Caribbean in the early hours of Saturday morning, with Antigua and Barbuda among the territories closest to the epicentre, according to Antigua.news, citing data released by the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC).
The tremor registered a magnitude of 3.9 and occurred at 3:13 a.m. local time (7:13 UTC) at a depth of 10 kilometres. The epicentre was pinpointed at latitude 16.86°N, longitude 60.87°W — placing Saint John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, approximately 112 kilometres to the east-southeast.
Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, was the nearest major population centre, situated roughly 100 kilometres to the northeast of the epicentre. Brades, the de facto capital of Montserrat, lies around 149 kilometres to the east.
Earthquakes of this magnitude are generally felt by people in the immediate vicinity but rarely cause structural damage.
The UWI-SRC monitoring network automatically detected and logged the seismic event. The network tracks tectonic activity across the Eastern Caribbean, a region that sits along the Lesser Antilles subduction zone — one of the most seismically active fault systems in the Caribbean basin.
As reported by Antigua.news, the preliminary location was automatically calculated by computer algorithms and remains subject to revision pending evaluation by UWI-SRC analysts. Further updates may be issued as data is reviewed.
