Earthquakes and Tsunami Warnings

This morning we had a fairly large earthquake. It was a 5.0 according to USGS or a 5.2 if you believe the local online paper. Either way, it lasted a bit and was the first quake I've ever been in where I actually got up and walked to the doorway (after sitting at my desk thinking about it for awhile). There's a pretty decent map on the Puerto Rico Seismic Network website. St. Thomas is the island south of the yellow dot on the 65W line.

Earthquakes can trigger tidal waves. Everyone knows that. But, did you know we don't have a tsunami warning system in place on the island? Dave and I have been told it's because it would be futile as we'd likely have fewer than five minutes to prepare. Marty McFly would always be ready.... So the quake this morning brought up an important issue here. PRSN has been responding to concerned residents emails by urging them to contact our delegate to the House of Representatives "to pressure NOAA into funding a round-the-clock earthquake monitoring facility for the region." I'd settle for NOAA starting with a reliable round-the-clock weather radar.