Four earthquakes in quick succession recorded close to Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday, UWI Centre reports

Officials from the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI -SRC) are reporting that there were four earthquakes recorded close to Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday morning, December 20, in quick succession.  

These came exactly one week after a low-magnitude tremor was recorded near the island.

The first tremor was noted at about 8:28 a.m. and measured 5.0, with a depth of 50.7 km.

The second quake reportedly occurred at about 8:41 a.m., measuring 3.6, at a depth of 56.6 km.

About two minutes after, at 8:43 a.m., the third tremor occurred. This was at a reported depth of 95.5 km and reportedly measured a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter Scale.

According to the Seismic Research Centre, the fourth quake, measuring 3.5, took place at 8:53 a.m., at a depth of 117.1 km.  

All the quakes were located Northeast of Antigua and near Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, and Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis. 

The Seismic Research Centre says that, due to the upgrade in its alert-level systems, more earthquakes are being posted, as the threshold has moved to magnitude 3.5.

However, this does not mean that the seismicity in the region has increased.