1692 Jamaica earthquake
The 1692 Jamaica earthquake struck Port Royal, Jamaica, on 7 June. A stopped pocket watch found in the harbor during a 1959 excavation indicated that it occurred around 11:43 AM local time.
| Local date | 7 June 1692 |
|---|---|
| Local time | 11:43 |
| Magnitude | 7.5 Mw |
| Depth | 10 km |
| Epicenter | 18.00°N 76.5°W |
| Areas affected | Jamaica |
| Tsunami | Yes |
| Casualties | Around 5,000 |
Known as the "storehouse and treasury of the West Indies" and as "one of the wickedest places on Earth," Port Royal was, at the time, a key city in colonial Jamaica and one of the busiest and wealthiest ports in the Americas, as well as a common home port for many of the privateers and pirates operating on the Caribbean Sea.
The 1692 earthquake caused most of the city to sink below sea level. About 2,000 people died as a result of the earthquake and the following tsunami, and another 3,000 people died in the following days due to injuries and disease.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.