A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake has struck the Caribbean Sea triggering tsunami warnings for a variety of nations, the US Geological Survey has stated.
Officers say the earthquake’s epicentre is about 20 miles (32.1km) north of Honduras and 130 miles (209.2km) south-west of the Cayman Islands.
A variety of tsunami alerts have been issued for the area together with the coast of Colombia, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
The Nationwide Climate Service has warned of potential hazards for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands including: “Sturdy currents and waves harmful to these in or very close to water”.
The USGS stated giant earthquakes at this location of the plate boundary are usually not sudden.
In 2018 a 7.5-magnitude earthquake occurred close by, inflicting some injury and a small tsunami, it stated.
“Fortunately, the distant location of those earthquakes limits the potential for important injury because of shaking,” it added.