ST. GEORGE’s, Grenada, Fri. Jan. 21, 2005: An earth tremor was felt this past week in the northern and eastern parts of Grenada but scientists say it may not be attributed to earthquake activities. Seismic monitoring equipment at Mt. St Catherine in Grenada recorded an unusual reading, but scientists said that the tremor which was most likely due to earth movement in the mountains of a Balthazar, an agricultural community located in five miles from town of Grenville on the eastern side of the Spice island. Lloyd Linch at the Seismic Unit thinks there is a strong possibility that there was a landslide or some other earth movement brought about by the prolong January rains. Statistics at the Point Salines International Airport show that already for the month 152.5mm of rain have fallen. This is almost three times the amount of 45.6 which fell during the month of January in 2004 He said the movement, which was felt on Tuesday evening, was confined to just a small area and did not even register on any of the other monitoring instruments around the country. “It could have been a landslide because of the rain in January. There was only a small seismic reading. An earthquake big enough would be registered on most stations. The type of reading we got did not indicate that it was anything bigger” said Lynch. Meanwhile, Grenada’s ability to conduct search and rescue operations on land are receiving a major shot in the arm. A project, coordinated by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency, to train and equip search and rescue teams is being implemented. Twenty-four persons, comprising four teams of six, from the police, fire department, Special Services Unit and the disaster management entity, are being selected for this training exercise. The project is providing about US $155,000 dollars in direct support to Grenada but the country will also benefit from other support provided under the general project arrangement. The Urban Search and Rescue project is a funded by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security and is being implemented in collaboration with United Nations Development Program. Of the 16 CDERA participating states, Grenada is one of the ten at greatest risk to seismic hazards such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Andria Grosvenor, CDERA’s program manager said, Because of Grenada’s location on the Caribbean plate and its geological formation as a volcanic island, the country is at risk to seismic hazards which include volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.” Grosvenor has just wrapped up a two-day visit to the island during which details of the programme were hammered out in meetings with NERO’s Coordinator Sylvan McIntyre, Inspectors Glen Paul of the SSU, Fire Chief John Mitchell and Ham Radio Operator Clytus St.Paul. Grenada is one of 16 countries in the region benefiting from the US$ 3 million program. The project, which started in 2004, is expected to conclude sometime in 2006. Reprinted from hardbeatnews.com