A 4.6-magnitude earthquake woke up residents and frightened pets when it shook the territory at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday. Residents across the northern Virgin Islands reported they felt it.
Although the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency initially reported the earthquake as a 4.9 magnitude, Harold Irizarry, a data analyst at the Puerto Rico Seismic Center in Mayaguez, explained that additional evaluations revised the number downward.
“It was one earthquake,” he said.
He said residents reported they felt it anywhere from four to seven seconds. However, he said the recording instrument measured about a minute. He said the difference comes because much of the energy goes into the ground and isn’t felt.
Some reports from the Virgin Islands indicated the earthquake sound changed partway through the shake. Irizarry said that can happen because the energy changes during the earthquake. He said this can change the sound.
The earthquake was located 24 miles northwest of Charlotte Amalie. It happened 43.8 miles under the ocean’s surface.
VITEMA said it is press release issued just minutes before midnight Tuesday that no injuries were reported.
No tsunami alert was issued.
