What were CJ readers’ favourite stories of 2011? See below for the five most popular pieces in Caribbean Journal this year.

For Large-Scale Earthquake in Eastern Caribbean, a Question of When, Not If

Could the Caribbean experience another earthquake like the devastating one in Port-au-Prince in 2010? The answer is yes – and it could be even more powerful, according to Dr Joan Latchman, the director of the Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies. The Eastern Caribbean is a subduction zone, which makes it one of the areas of the world able to deliver extremely high-magnitude earthquakes. The Haiti quake measured around 7.0 on the Richter scale – not such a large-magnitude quake but made catastrophic due to the particular characteristics of its location near the capital, and a number of factors on the ground in Haiti. A potential quake in the Eastern Caribbean, Latchman says, could be as high as 8.0, like one seen in the 19th century. And for the Caribbean, it’s matter of when, not if. To learn more, Caribbean Journal talked to Latchman about Caribbean earthquakes, recent changes in seismic activity in the region and what the Caribbean needs to do to prepare. Click here for more.

Haiti Leads Caribbean Hotel Development

The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 131 hotels totaling 17,923 rooms, according to the November Construction Pipeline Report from STR. Haiti reported the largest expected growth in the region, with a total of 753 rooms in the active pipeline. Click here for more.

British Virgin Islands Has Caribbean’s Best Quality of Life: Report

A report by the Financial Times’ fDi Intelligence division named the British Virgin Islands as having the Caribbean’s best quality of life. The report, which ranked what it deemed the region’s “Countries of the Future,” covered several categories, including economic potential, infrastructure, business friendliness and foreign direct investment strategy. Click here for more.

Nevis: the Caribbean’s Greenest Island

As part of this edition of Caribbean Journal’s Country in Focus feature, we took a look at the island of Nevis, which is moving to the forefront of the Caribbean’s green sector, with a drive in both eco-tourism and green energy. Nevis already has an established wind farm, along with a geothermal project with serious potential. The project, by West Indies Power, could potentially provide energy for the entire federation of St Kitts and Nevis. The island, which is anchored by the Four Seasons Resort, is one of the untouched frontiers of the Caribbean. Nevis, which once drove the Caribbean with sugarcane, now hopes its green movement can prove to be a similar economic engine. Click here for more.

Interview with Jamaican Parliamentary Candidate Damion Crawford

Damion Crawford, People’s National Party candidate won the election on Thursday for the East Rural St Andrew seat in Jamaica’s Parliament. He attended Kingston College, and then went to the University of the West Indies, where he received a master’s degree in tourism management, a field in which he also lectured. In November 2008, he was elected the president of the People’s National Party Youth Organization. It was only recently that he decided to take the next step and run – in his words, because politics is the only way to change things at the macro level. Click here for more.