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A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit 27 miles off the coast of Honduras at 9:51 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2018 and prompted a short tsunami warning for a few countries. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the earthquake created concern for a potential tsunami on the coast of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands but future forecasts showed no potential tsunami and only the possibility of large waves.
The earthquake struck about 125 miles northeast of Barra Patuca, Honduras and 191 miles southwest of Georgetown, Cayman Islands.
“I’m glad it didn’t turn into a tsunami. We don’t need more allies to disrupt into unsustainable chaos, like the Caribbean,” Sarah Panovka ’18 said. “An earthquake is still a major disruption though, so I hope that it didn’t hurt too many people or structures. A lot of parts of Central America are already in poverty. This will only push them backwards.”
According to CNBC, the earthquake was felt in parts of Mexico as well as Belize, however, there were no reports of destruction and according to CNN, waves off the coast of Central America were reaching 0.3 to one meter above the tide level.
“An earthquake is still a major disruption though, so I hope that it didn’t hurt too many people or structures. A lot of parts of Central America are already in poverty. This will only push them backwards.” -Sarah Panovka '18
Xander Winser ’19 believes that more safety precautions must be taken during a situation like this. “Personally, I believe that if there was a risk of that [a tsunami] happening then there should be further measures to prevent further incidents for safety,” Winser said.
According to U.S. News, there were few casualties and minor damages as a result of the earthquake.