A moderate magnitude 4.4 earthquake has been registered in the Eastern Caribbean, regional geoscience authorities confirmed over the weekend. According to an official update from the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, the seismic event struck at 11:35 a.m. local time on Sunday, roughly 122 kilometers west-northwest of St. John’s, the capital of the dual-island nation Antigua and Barbuda.
Geoscientists logged the earthquake at a depth of 149 kilometers below the ocean surface, with its preliminary epicenter pinned at 17.37 degrees north latitude and 62.92 degrees west longitude. This position places the rupture point just 22 kilometers northwest of Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis, and approximately 101 kilometers northwest of Brades, the administrative center of the British Overseas Territory Montserrat.
The Seismic Research Centre noted in its initial public announcement that the epicenter coordinates released are the product of an automatic calculation, meaning the readings are subject to adjustment once agency analysts complete a full manual review of the collected seismic data. As of the initial advisory, officials had not yet confirmed whether shaking from the quake was felt by residents across the nearby island nations, nor had any reports of structural damage or injuries been released to the public.