A powerful but deep earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter Scale sent workers scrambling in panic into Caribbean streets yesterday after it struck near the island of Martinique and sent tremors through the region.

The quake was "the strongest this century" but there were no initial reports of serious damage or injury, said Julian Dubois, deputy director of the St. Lucia Civil Defence.

"There have been no reports of significant damage apart from water lines and water tanks," Dubois said by telephone.

In Trinidad, Richard Robertson, head of the seismic research unit of the University of the West Indies, said no tsunami warning had been issued because of the depth of the quake, a statement echoed by the United States West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The quake hit at 3:00 p.m. (1900 GMT), 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Martinique, at a depth of 90 miles (145.4 km), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Earthquakes with a deep epicentre are less likely to cause damage.

In St. Lucia, panicking office workers rushed out into the streets, Dubois said.

"It was a very strong shake," he said.

It was felt as far away as Colombia. In the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, some residents evacuated office buildings.