Above: a graphic of the quake (USGS)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica was lightly shaken Saturday morning by a 4.0-magnitude earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The quake occurred at around 10:37 AM local time at a depth of 14 kilometres.

Its epicentre was about six kilometres west-southwest of Savanna-la-Mar, about 41 kilometres southwest of Montego Bay and about 148 kilometres west of Kingston, the country’s capital.

The Caribbean is a seismically active region; in recent years, the largest concentration of earthquakes over a magnitude of 4.0 on the Richter scale have occurred in the Puerto Rico-Dominican Republic area.

In September, a 3.3-magnitude quake occurred off the southern coast of Jamaica.

There were no reports of damage or injuries due to the quake.