Earthquakes in Cuba: second earthquake, more powerful, magnitude 6.8, shakes the island

A second earthquake, more powerful than the first, shook the island of Cuba on its southern coast, near Santiago, on Sundayaccording to the United States Geophysical Survey (USGS). The tremor, of magnitude 6.8, occurred 23.5 kilometers under the ocean, a few hours after the first earthquake of magnitude 5.9, which was felt in several provinces of the country.

Just minutes before, another powerful 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the southeastern coast, although no tsunami warning was issued.

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The United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed the epicenter at 14.2 kilometers deep in the oceanabout 35 kilometers from the coast of Bartolomé Maso, in the province of Granma, and about 175 kilometers from Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in the country.

For its part, the Cuban National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS) and the authorities in Santiago de Cuba confirmed an “earthquake of 5.4 degrees Richter scale perceptible in eastern Cuba. Aftershocks are reported,” said the official Caribe television channel.

So far, perceptibility has been reported in all the eastern provinces, in addition to Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila (center).according to the official newspaper Granma, without reporting human losses so far.

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“Here people quickly took to the streets because the ground moved very strongly,” Andrés Pérez, a 65-year-old retiree who lives in the center of Santiago de Cuba, told AFP by telephone.

“It really felt very strong, my wife is a nervous wreck,” he added.

The tremor shakes the island as the country recovers from the scourge of Rafael, a category 3 hurricane, which hit the west of the territory, leaving it with a general blackout for almost two days.

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An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was recorded on October 17 in Santiago de Cuba without leaving any damage.

Another strong earthquake of magnitude 7.7 was recorded in January 2020 in Caribbean waters and was felt in several provinces of Cuba, causing the evacuation of buildings in Havana, with no damage reported.