Because of this transition, the overriding Caribbean plate begins to extend, and normal faults starts to break out as a result.

Shaking reportedly lasted a minute in Frederiksted, where the earthquake stirred a dust cloud that blanketed the town.

[9] Fajardo, the largest town in Puerto Rico within the direct vicinity of the earthquake, completely lost its church and several of its civic structures.

[10] The historic parish churches of Bayamón and Juana Díaz were also damaged as a result of the earthquakes.

It was felt with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong) and a 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) tsunami accompanied the shock.

[1] At Saint Thomas, the first wave was described as a "straight white wall, about 4.6–7.0 m (15.1–23.0 ft)" which advanced to the harbor, ten minutes after the earthquake.

[13] The La Plata, a steamship serving the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was swamped by the tsunami, killing nearly all of its crew on board.

A US Navy ship which had arrived the day before, the USS De Soto, was ripped from her moorings and beached.

Deshayes was hit with very high waves, an estimated 18.3 m (60 ft) in height and a length of 5 km (3.1 mi).

Tsunami deposits on Saint Thomas left in salt ponds and lagoons have not been extensively studied.

[18] A study by Zahibo and others published a surface-wave magnitude of 7.5 (Ms ) at a hypocenter depth of less than 30 km (19 mi).