Was there an earthquake in the North Atlantic, or not?

First there was this from ENEWSPF:

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred this evening in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 13 km, 84 km (52 miles) NE (55 degrees) of Higüey, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic; 109 km (68 miles) ENE (73 degrees) of El Seybo, El Seybo, Dominican Republic; 116 km (72 miles) NW (313 degrees) of Rincón, PR; 119 km (74 miles) NE (54 degrees) of La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic; and 209 km (130 miles) ENE (73 degrees) of SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic.

And then this, later on:

N.B. This event has been deleted from the USGS Web site. There is no more explanation as to why this event was originally reported.

Was someone at the USGS just having fun when the original email alert was sent?

Why did the USGS report an earthquake, a big one, in the North Atlantic?