No major issues in Westmoreland
Published:Tuesday | October 31, 2023 | 12:12 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
MOSES CHYBAR, head of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says several businesses have reported minor damage to their business establishments following yesterday’s earthquake.
Noting that it was still early to get a proper assessment of the impact of the 5.6-magnitude quake, Chybar said some members of the business community have reported cracks appearing in their buildings.
“We will wait to see what [further reports] turn up, if anything, in the days ahead,” he added.
Richard Wallace, managing director and owner of Boardwalk Village in Negril, said he did not feel the earthquake.
“Most people didn’t feel it down here. A few people say they felt it. Even at the hotel, most of my staff there didn’t feel it outside of this one lady who was on the beach doing massage,” Wallace told The Gleaner.
“The impact here was minor compared to Kingston. I heard that people are evacuating buildings and that grocery items are falling off the shelves there. It was hardly felt down here,” he added.
Marcine Campbell-Kerr, disaster coordinator at the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, said that there were no reports of major damage when The Gleaner checked in.
“I have contacted several schools that have reported that they felt the tremor, but there was no visible damage to their infrastructure,” Campbell-Kerr said.
“Many people only became aware of it by way of other family members elsewhere and on the social media platform,” she added.