Powerful quake shakes Caribbean, one dead

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook several Caribbean holiday islands, destroying buildings and killing at least one person and causing widespread panic.Thousands of residents fled their homes on the French island of Martinique and in Barbados after the earthquake struck late Thursday.The quake, which was felt as far as Venezuela and the US territory of Puerto Rico, left at least two people injured in Martinique, while Barbados' emergency services chief was hurt while helping the population, police said.One third of Martinique and thousands in Guadeloupe lost electricity.One elderly woman died after suffering a heart attack in the panic of the moment in Martinique, security officials said.The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was about 23 kilometers (14 miles) northwest of Martinique, causing buildings to collapse on the French island and Barbados.Police helicopters flew over Martinique to search for casualties."For the moment, a building and a bank have collapsed," a Martinique police official told AFP.While no casualties were reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe, police said fires were reported in the main city of Pointe-a-Pitre.Hospitals were functioning normally except Hospital de Trinite, where an eight-storey tower developed large cracks after the quake."We have rarely seen anything like this. This lasted for more than 30 seconds. The last time round was in 1970 and it was less powerful," a local resident said.In Paris, French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie summoned an emergency meeting to consider relief measures.The earthquake was 143 kilometers (89 miles) deep, causing no threat of a destructive tsunami, according to the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.In Fort de France, people took shelter under tables, while others rushed out of buildings or even jumped out of windows.There were similar scenes in Barbados.USGS geophysicist Stuart Sipkin said large earthquakes in the Caribbean were uncommon but not unheard of."Earthquakes of this magnitude aren't nearly as common (in the Caribbean) as they are in the Pacific Rim," Sipkin told AFP from Colorado. "They've occurred in the past, and there have even been tsunami-producing earthquakes in the Caribbean. There just hasn't been one for quite a while."Sipkin said the depth of the earthquake made damage and casualties less likely."But things that happen when you get deeper earthquakes is that even though the shaking at the surface is not as strong, it's felt over a wider area," he said.Several observatories in Martinique and in mainland France registered the quake at levels of between 6.8 and 7.3 on the Richter scale.
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As in the days of Noah....