DEXTER RIGSBY
AT 8.41 pm I was watching a movie on Netflix when it struck. Alone in my house, I felt my sofa shaking from side to side. My initial thought was to sprint through the front door if it lasted for one more second. It did not.
Like Jereem Richards at the 200m finish line, my mind then raced to the catastrophe occasioned by the two killer earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and magnitude 6.4 that struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28.
Myanmar absorbed the brunt of the disaster, reporting roughly 3,770 confirmed deaths and 5,100 people injured, as opposed to 22 deaths in Thailand and 35 injured. With a population of 55 million in Myanmar, 17 million of whom were affected and three million displaced, the devastation was tremendous.
Infrastructural impacts were also significant, evident by the collapse of a high-rise building in Thailand, coupled with the destruction of and damage to hospitals, health centres, roads, commercial buildings and private residences in Myanmar. In that country 80 per cent of the houses are built from wood and bamboo and so, although those structures may be more easily damaged or destroyed than a concrete and steel hybrid, they can be more readily rebuilt.
Fortunately, here in TT certified contractors largely conform to strict building codes where clay, concrete and steel are integral components for construction. As a result, most of the buildings in our country can withstand tremors with significant magnitudes, evident by the 7.3 quake that rocked TT on August 21, 2018. Except for minor damage to a few buildings and several cars flattened by falling concrete, we managed to escape that peril.
Nonetheless, the Caribbean is seismically active. Specifically, TT has an annual average of 260 earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 2.0. Significant occurrences for the Caribbean and Central America region for 2025 thus far are as follows:
* Magnitude 7.6 – Cayman Islands, February 8 at 7.23 pm. No damage or injuries were reported although a tsunami alert was established for several coasts in the Caribbean and Central America regions before being discontinued without incident. Houses are mainly built from mud, metal and wood.
* Magnitude 6.2 – Panama, March 21 at 10.50 pm. As with the Cayman Islands, there were no reports of damage or injuries and private residents are largely constructed using mud, metal and wood. No tsunami alert was warranted.
On average, tremors over 4.0 in strength affect TT every 15 days. So, our next “shake-up” could occur around May 26. It is also noteworthy that apart from the frightening 7.3 quake in 2018, 6.9 and 6.2 quakes shook Trinidad and Tobago in 2019 and 2024, respectively. While most of us reside in relatively sturdy structures, the frequency and intensity of earthquakes impacting TT is worrying.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management provides helpful basic tips related to what to do before, during and after an earthquake along with relevant emergency contact numbers. However, a more holistic approach is required by the divisi
