Strong earthquake strikes off Cuba’s north-west coast

HAVANA - A strong earthquake struck off Cuba’s northwest coast on June 8, according to official reports, shaking parts of Cuba, Mexico and Florida that are typically not prone to quakes.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake at a magnitude 6.1 at a shallow depth of 26km and its epicentre 104km west-north-west of Mantua, Cuba, about two to four hours by car from the capital Havana.

The earthquake on June 8 was unusual for this area of the Caribbean, said Paul Earle, a seismologist at the USGS, noting that the quake occurred within a tectonic plate, where earthquakes are usually more scattered and less frequent than when they occur along plate boundaries.

An earthquake this strong had not hit within 322km of June 8's quake since 1880, when a 6.0 temblor hit near San Cristobal, Cuba, said Earle.

The authorities have not yet reported any major damage or casualties, but the quake spiked concern in Cuba, where decades of economic crisis have left buildings in severe disrepair. Ongoing widespread blackouts across the region have made communications difficult.

"It felt strong. I had never felt anything like that," said Yusmila Hernandez, 44, at her home in Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba.

"People ran outside, everyone scared. I can’t even explain it. It felt like no earthquake has ever felt here before," Hernandez said.

An AFP journalists in Havana has reported 20 seconds of shaking that forced Cubans out of buildings and into the streets.

People milled around Havana’s city centre, checking their phones after the tremor which according to Cuban authorities was felt “throughout the entire west of the country.”

“At first I just felt dizzy – it didn’t occur to me it was an earthquake, I’d never experienced that before,” Carmel Delgado, a 47‑year‑old economist, told AFP.

“But once we realised what it could be, we got out quickly.”

In Mexico, the quake was felt in the resort cities of Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum on the country’s Yucatan peninsula.

Residents and workers in Cancun’s city centre, unaccustomed to strong quakes, evacuated buildings.

Emergency protocols were activated in Mexico’s Yucatan and Quintana Roo states, but there were not yet reports of damage, the state’s governors both said on social media.

No tsunami warning or watch was issued after the earthquake, according to the US National Weather Service.

USGS reported that shaking was also felt in Florida.

The US Tsunami Warning Center ruled out a significant tsunami threat following the quake.

But there was a “very small possibility” of tsunami waves along the coasts located near the epicentre, it said.

Francis Ruiz, a 41-year-old actor, was recording a radio drama in a fifth-floor studio in Havana’s historic centre when he felt the tremor.

“We were recording in an office and all of a sudden, the table moved, and we all looked at each other,” Ruiz told AFP.

“The building shook, and right then chaos broke out, everyone running down the stairs,” he added. REUTERS, AFP