Cuba was rocked by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that was felt more than 500 miles away in central Florida.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected two quakes off the coast of the island, with the first reaching a magnitude 5.9 that hit at 10:50am ET Sunday and the larger one hitting an hour later.
Videos of the quake showed homes shaking, buildings crumbling and roads splitting in Cuba, but tremors were also felt in Miami through Hollywood and Boca Raton, and even as far north as Orlando.
The 6.8 magnitude struck Cuba’s southeastern coast in Granma province near the municipality of Bartolome Maso, where former Cuban leader Fidel Castro had his headquarters during the Cuban Revolution.
The major earthquake occurred on a fault line that runs along the island’s southeastern coast, marking the boundary between the North American plate and Caribbean plate.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said: ‘There have been landslides, damage to homes and power lines. We have begun to assess damages…the first and essential thing is to save lives.
‘We’ve felt earthquakes in the past, but nothing like this.’
Cuba was rocked by two major earthquakes within one hour. Photos of the aftermath showed buildings had crumbled
Officials said that Cuba is no stranger to earthquakes, but noted that the one on Sunday was nothing like they’ve ever experienced
Residents in Santiago, Cuba’s second-largest city, were left shaken on Sunday. Yolanda Tabío, 76, said that people in the city flocked to the streets and were still nervously sitting in their doorways.
She said that she felt at least two aftershocks following the quake, but that among friends and family she hadn’t heard of any damages.
‘You had to see how everything was moving, the walls, everything,’ she told The Associated Press.
The 6.8 quake was at a depth of 8.7 miles, USGS said.
Cuban authorities said more than 15 perceptible aftershocks followed the first two jolts and warned locals to be vigilant as further aftershocks were possible.
Florida locals in Miami reported shaking shortly after the earthquake hit, but the USGS did not report seismic activity in the area.
Fire officials also emphasized that there was no cause for alarm and no reports of damage or injuries.
‘The City of Miami is aware that some residents in the Brickell/Downtown area may be concerned about the recent earthquake off the coast of Cuba, but we want to reassure everyone that no earthquake or aftershocks are being felt in Miami,’ the city shared in a statement.
Many of Cuba’s homes and buildings are older and vulnerable to quake damage.
State-run media published images of terracota roofs and facades of concrete block homes that had collapsed with the shake.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected two quakes off the coast of Cuba Sunday morning. The first was a magnitude 5.9 that hit at 10:50am ET Sunday, followed by 6.8 an hour later
Many images showed structural damage to ceilings, walls, windows columns as well as to public infrastructure.
The earthquake struck an island still struggling to recover from hurricanes, including Oscar in October and Rafael this month that left 10 million locals without power.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami previously warned that Rafael could bring ‘life-threatening’ storm surges, winds and flash floods to Cuba after ravaging parts of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
The Category 3 hit the island the evening of November 6, bringing massive waves on Havana’s shores as sharp winds and rain left trees littered on flooded roads.
The storm was previously on track to hit a wider area of Texas and Louisiana but has changed track over the past 24 hours.
The hurricane has since downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves toward Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center is still monitoring Rafael, revealing Monday that it could still generate swells in portions of the northern and western Gulf Coast.
These swells are likely to ’cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,’ the agency said.