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U.S. seismic expert urges Jamaica to prepare for major earthquake
The Extinction Protocol
April 6, 2013 – JAMAICA - Authorities in Jamaica have been urged by an American seismic expert to start long-term efforts to prepare for another major earthquake to impact the island. The advice came from geophysics professor Eric Calais of Purdue University, who urged the country’s government and various stakeholders to understand that the threat is very real based on the area’s history and active seismic activity. Professor Calais, who visited the island as part of a mission with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said most scientists agree that Jamaica will most likely be exposed to an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 or 7.5 on the Richter scale. An earthquake of magnitude 7 on the Richter scale is considered “major” and is capable of widespread destruction. Kingston was destroyed, with some 1,000 resultant deaths, in a 6.5-magnitude quake in 1907. If Jamaica were to be hit by a similar quake now, the island could suffer a $6.5 billion loss, nearly half of the island’s gross domestic product, researchers with the University of the West Indies (UWI) have said. “A 6.5 in the harbor by the capital could be a tremendous threat,” Calais said during a visit to Port Royal, just outside of Kingston, which was the island’s main city until 1692 when an earthquake and tsunami submerged two-thirds of the town.
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