A mad rush from the 10th floor | Jamaicans react to 7.7 magnitude earthquake

Johnson and her fellow coworkers were at their desks inside the Advantage Communications Inc. – an international call centre located on the 10th floor of The Towers on Dominica Drive, New Kingston.

“We were sitting down then we start feel the floor moving… the desk were shaking, the computers were shaking, then we hear the alarm go off. Everybody start use the emergency exit to come down,” she told Old Harbour News.

“However, when we try to use the emergency exit it was very hard to come down, persons were panicking. There were actually some elderly persons whilst on the stairs coming from different floors who actually couldn’t walk fast. While coming down you could feel the railings shaking.”

Johnson’s experience is similar to many others on the island as the quake struck approximately 80 miles north north-west of Lucea, Jamaica. Its epicenter located within that triangular region of the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. It had a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) and is one of the strongest to have hit Jamaica in recent times.

The local government ministry confirmed reports of minor minor damages to some buildings in the western parts of the country, but there were no serious damage to property or injuries to anyone.

But the level of panic it triggered nonetheless will certainly keep many talking about this experience for weeks and months ahead.

Over by the emergency assembly area at the Centre Stage parking lot across from The Towers, Johnson said persons fainted while many were crying as a result of the frightening experience.

“It was not a very nice experience,” said Johnson, a mother of twin girls a little over a year old now.

More than half an hour later things appeared to be back to normal in New Kingston, one of the prime commercial hubs in Jamaica. But by the time persons started settling down an aftershock occurred triggering a mad rush for the exit once more.

‘So the alarm was raised again, everybody had to come down the stairs again. Some persons start leaving at that point, some persons whose shift and actually finish didn’t bother to go back into the building,” she said, before adding “right now my head is still hurting me”.

Many Jamaicans took to social media to retell their experience. On the Old Harbour News official Facebook page our fans located in St Mary, Trelawny, Spanish Town, Portmore, Kingston, May Pen, Hanover, Mandeville, St Elizabeth, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, as well as several communities in around Old Harbour, all said they felt the earthquake.

Many noted the unusually long period the tremor last for, some claiming it went on for up to a 60 seconds.

Ann-Marie Crooks-Timoll said the tremor was “long and heavy”, while one resident of Old Harbour Glades stated “the house was shaking like leaf”.

Vivia Lawrence who is located in Falmouth, Trelawny wrote “it was a long shake”, while Firefighter Dwayne Clarke said it was the “longest (earthquake) I have ever felt” in his life.

Meanwhile, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is urging citizens to avail themselves, by way of an audio visual demo posted online, of the necessary precautionary steps that should be taken in the event of an earthquake.

According to the United States Geological Survey, there was nothing unusual about today’s massive quake. It is the period for earthquakes this time of the year in the region.

It said: “The U.S. Geological Survey continues to monitor the seismic activity in the region. The earthquake is a strike-slip event consistent with it occurring along the Oriente Fault. Aftershocks, which are already occurring, are normal and expected.

“Despite the large size of the earthquake, the fact that it occurred offshore and away from high population areas lessened its societal impact. USGS estimates moderate shaking occurred on parts of Cuba and Jamaica, the two islands closest to the epicenter, and light to weak shaking across other parts of these islands. Light shaking was also reported from some parts of the Florida mainland.

“USGS scientists report that this earthquake confirms what is already known about this part of the world: large earthquakes can and do happen in the Caribbean region.”
The quake was also felt in parts of the US state of Florida.