A seismometer in Valentia, Co Kerry, detected sound waves from an earthquake that struck near the Caribbean island group of Guadeloupe on Monday afternoon.

The magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred at 12.38pm, approximately 160 kilometres west of the French overseas territory, at a depth of nine kilometres.

It was felt across parts of the southern Caribbean, including Antigua and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

A second quake, measuring magnitude 6.0, struck shortly afterwards in the same area at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami alert was issued.

The acoustic waves from the first quake travelled the 6,000 kilometre distance across the Atlantic in around ten minutes before being detected in Co Kerry.

The Valentia seismometer, operated by the Irish National Seismic Network, continued to register signals from the event for about 25 minutes.

Separately, seismic agencies Volcano Discovery and Natural Resources Canada reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in the North Atlantic on Sunday evening, roughly 500 kilometres west of Ireland.

The event was recorded at 6.50pm at a depth of five kilometres. However, neither the US Geological Survey nor the British Geological Survey has yet published data confirming the quake.

If verified, it would be the strongest recorded in that part of the Atlantic since a magnitude 4.6 event in 1970.