The quake struck at 6.23pm local time in the middle of the sea and had a depth of 10km, the USGS said. Its epicentre was 209km south-southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.

The US National Tsunami Warning Center said there is no tsunami alert for the US mainland but issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The Cayman Islands government issued a tsunami threat alert and said in its social media channels that its “residents living near the coastline are encouraged to move inland.”

Honduran authorities said there were no immediate reports of damage but urged its residents to stay away from beaches in the next few hours, local media said.

The International Tsunami Information Center said “hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours along some coasts of” Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Bahamas, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, San Andres Providence, Belize, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Saba.