Question:

  By ELLSWORTH CARTER     ROSEAU, Dominica, Nov 21 (AP) — A strong earthquake shook the  Caribbean islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe early Sunday, destroying  at least a half dozen buildings and injuring several people.   The  temblor had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, said John Minsch, a  seismologist at the U.S. National Earthquake Information Service. Its  epicenter was about 28 miles north-northwest of Dominica, near the  Guadeloupe archipelago of Les Saintes.     At least six houses were destroyed and others were damaged in  Terre-de-Bas, one of the islands in the chain, private Radio Caraibes  reported.  Several people were injured in mainland Guadeloupe in the  southern towns of Trois-Rivieres and Basse-Terre, the radio station  reported. The injuries were not serious.    In Dominica, several homes and buildings were damaged in the northern  part of the former British colony, including three churches, national  disaster coordinator Cecil Shillingford said.    No injuries were  reported in Dominica, Shillingford said.    The facade of a Roman  Catholic church collapsed in Portsmouth, north of the capital, Roseau,  said Ian Douglas, a parliamentary representative from the area.    There was nobody in the church at the time. Sunday services were  previously canceled because Catholics in Dominica were celebrating a  special feast in the southern part of the country.  Portsmouth’s  hospital also suffered damage and patients were evacuated to a nearby  building, Douglas told state-run Dominica Broadcasting Corp.      The earthquake lasted several seconds and was felt as far away as  Antigua and Barbuda, some 125 miles north of the epicenter. No damage  was reported there. — Ken Tough

Response:

Oops, I was just about to book a trip to Guadeloupe – though to a part as far as you can get from Basse Terre, etc.  I wonder if the earthquake upset the public water supply mains on Grande Terre.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->   By ELLSWORTH CARTER >     ROSEAU, Dominica, Nov 21 (AP) — A strong earthquake shook the >  Caribbean islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe early Sunday, destroying >  at least a half dozen buildings and injuring several people.   The >  temblor had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, said John Minsch, a >  seismologist at the U.S. National Earthquake Information Service. Its >  epicenter was about 28 miles north-northwest of Dominica, near the >  Guadeloupe archipelago of Les Saintes. >     At least six houses were destroyed and others were damaged in >  Terre-de-Bas, one of the islands in the chain, private Radio Caraibes >  reported.  Several people were injured in mainland Guadeloupe in the >  southern towns of Trois-Rivieres and Basse-Terre, the radio station >  reported. The injuries were not serious.

Response:

I think there might be some confusion here: Terre-de-bas is one of the nearby Saintes islands, whereas Basse Terre is one of the 2 islands that make up Guadeloupe (often referred as "le continent" by the locals). Check http://www.lesilesdeguadeloupe.com/ for more touristic info on all the Guadeloupe islands. About the earthquake: If you speak French, you could check the TV/radio web site on http://www.rfo.fr/ or the French ministry for overseas department http://www.outre-mer.gouv.fr/outremer/front Otherwise, I’m sure there’ll be more info on http://news.google.com/ Cheers, mld R J Carpenter a