Politics
Earthquake with 6.1 magnitude hits offshore Cuba, effects felt as far as Florida
There were reports of buildings being shaken in Cuba.
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck near western Cuba on Monday, shaking buildings in Havana and beyond.
No injuries or damage were immediately reported.
The quake struck at a depth of six miles in waters just west of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Flavia Pupo, a manager at the Pinar del Río hotel, in Pinar del Rio, described how the building shook and caused some fear.
“Everyone here is OK,” she said by telephone. “The people on the street are a little bit scared.”
The latest earthquake was felt as far away as Florida. The National Weather Service in Miami said in a tweet that it received several reports of shaking in the southwestern part of the state.
The Oriente fault zone is located just off Cuba’s southeast coast and has unleashed damaging earthquakes in recent centuries, including a 7.7 magnitude quake on January 2020 in open waters that caused damage in Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
The National Weather Service said it received “reports of shaking across Southwestern Florida” between 1:45 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.
No tsunami is expected from the earthquake.
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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.