Additional Coverage:
A powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck north of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, prompting tsunami warnings for surrounding islands and countries.
If tsunami waves develop, they are expected to reach Puerto Rico’s western coast around 8:48 p.m. EST (9:48 p.m. local time).
The U.S. Virgin Islands is anticipated to see the first waves approximately 30 minutes later.
The U.S. Gulf and East Coasts are not currently considered to be at risk.
The Tsunami Warning Center is monitoring the situation and assessing the tsunami risk. It’s still unclear whether tsunami waves have actually been generated.
Initially reported as magnitude 8, the quake was later downgraded. This is the largest earthquake worldwide since 2023.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located 202 km southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.
Following the quake, numerous countries, including 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, and Jamaica issued potential tsunami threat warnings.
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands also issued tsunami advisories. This earthquake follows a magnitude 5.9 quake that impacted several Caribbean nations in December 2024 and led to an emergency evaluation of disaster relief efforts.