‘Bird and insect a my alarm’ - Old Harbour Bay residents ignore ‘man-made’ tsunami warning

Upon entering the community of Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine, one cannot help but notice several tsunami hazard-zone warning and assembly point signs.

However, on Saturday, when a tsunami alarm was triggered and echoed throughout the community, the residents, including fisherfolk, were unbothered. They said their confidence and trust lay heavily on nature.

"The bird and di insect dem a my alarm because dem have sense. When nuh storm or any disaster a come, the bird dem lift up and the sea start rise and start go in from the shore. The sea ago take way itself from land and gone and yuh ago see certain fish come close to shore. And anytime mi see dat happen, mi ago jump in mi car and head up suh and all a who a stop mi, mi nah go response," a fisherman said.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDEMA) reported that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre indicated an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 occurred north of Honduras at 7:23 p.m. AST on Saturday. Initial data suggested that, based on preliminary earthquake parameters, hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coastal areas within 1,000 kilometres of the earthquake's epicentre. A potential tsunami threat was initially forecast for 20 countries, including seven CDEMA participating states, among them Jamaica.

But, even with reports of the massive earthquake that took place in the sea, the residents of Old Harbour Bay were not rattled.

"Ants, rat, roach and everything ago start behave different. We nuh business 'bout di man-made alarm because a the birds and lizard we listen to. Dem normally sense these tings before we eno. Dem sense it days before it reach land so we have time to prepare. Mi nuh concern 'bout no tsunami more than if we see sign mi ago take away myself. A over 45 years mi out here suh and mi nah go kill up mi self weh mi no have no control over. In fact, mi deh sea Saturday and mi good. Only hurricane can stop mi from go sea because a 3 o'clock mi left out Sunday morning go sea," he said.

Some even bragged about attending a party on the shores.

"Mi hear the one [alarm] up by the crossroads but mi or nobody nuh move because if tsunami a come, it nah go just come sudden so. We ago see the waves a come in and we will get time to move. A whole heap a time we run because we hear say storm a come and nutten no gwan. We ago see the sea a rise if anyting. But truth be told, a lot of people never even know say one earthquake gwan because all party did a gwan on the beach Saturday," a female vendor said.

An elderly fisherman told THE STAR that he had heard the alarm but believed it was a natural disaster drill.

"It was a training businessman fi see how people woulda react if one tsunami come. The same way dem have the fire drill, it was the same ting. It was a training session, so dem would have to send out the alert to excite yuh. It never real man. Tsunami carry the sea with it and mi don't think there was earthquake in the sea either. It was all part of the training," the man said.