from friends:

This was the biggest one to date that I have experienced in Belize -
the 1976 one was scary but this one had me saying a prayer. The house
shook like a leaf for about 40 seconds and items fell off shelves and
dressers- at times I was convinced that it was going down. All's well
that ends well - my prayers are with those who were directly affected
here and in the neighboring countries. The epicenter was only about
150 miles away from Belize City according to my calculations.

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3:45am: Man, that was a big one. Hope everyone is ok.

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Woke us up around 2:30am.  Power and water are out in Independence.  Radio reports of several houses down or damaged in Monkey River and Punta Gorda.
 
They say Independence water tower collapsed ..and for true, our water is off here.
 
Correction just came through that houses damaged in Monkey River, but nothing comfirned in Mango Creek. 

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YEEE HAW!!!

everything fell off our shelves!
at 0230 we were in for a ride!
even scared Scurvy! and he's fearless!!

does anyone know anything about Roatan?

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54R1ON20090528?rpc=60

"On Roatan, rescue officials said the quake had knocked out power and caused minor damage to buildings. People were outside their houses and being urged to keep away from the shore."

Wow slept right through didn't feel a thing.
No high water or unusual waves evidence on the beach. seems unaffected here on Ambergris.. well at least up here in the North.
got a humorous email from the neighborhood watch ,
Nemo says," to seek higher ground.' Ha higher ground , I wonder where they live? Getting in you boat would be more practical, or better yet put on you SCUBA equipment ;-).
People on the south end say it was shaking bad enough to get outside their houses for safety.

Thanks for the info on Roatan

from Caye Caulker...

Man that was a big one.

I was too tired last night to post and decided to wait until this morning cause I figured that by then someone would already know something.

FYI - I just build an elevated concrete home in Caye Caulker. Moved in about 2 months ago. For weeks I've been feeling slight tremors when lying in my bed, and have been worried that perhaps it was not built strong enough if a 'lee breeze' or whatever it was was making it shake. I could possibly be imagining my bed shaking ever so slightly. Would it withstand a hurricane?

Then between 2:00 - 2:26AM there was no denying that the house was shaking - literally! Slight rattling in the doors. My sons and I all woke up with a start. Either there was a dinosaur walking in our neighbourhood, or there was an earthquake in nearby (I thought perhaps Guatemala).

Haven't left the house yet for the day, so it will be interesting to hear what other island folks have to say about it. Caye Caulker is up North. Placencia, Monkey River, Independence is down South. And Honduras further than South from us than Guatemala. That we could feel and watch it shake us like that....wow!

Any news about Placencia? We were planning a visit there in a few weeks. Thanks.

It'll be interesting what the geologists say. Given that we are on a major fault line this quake could make a more serious one more likely, not less. We need to stay aware.

As Elbert has pointed out - if we do have a bigger tremor and a tsunami threat - there is NO higher ground to retreat to.

This tremor was certainly the most I have experienced and it certainly gives us an idea of what it must be like around the epicenter.