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A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday, causing material damage and disruption as the island faces an ongoing struggle to recover from recent hurricanes and power outages.
The earthquake, reported around noon local time, struck approximately 39 km south of Bartolomé Masó, shortly after a 5.9 magnitude tremor had already shaken the area, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Cuban President Miguel DÃaz-Canel confirmed landslides, structural damage to homes, and downed power lines in affected areas. “We’re currently assessing the damage to start recovery efforts,” he stated, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Photographs published by Cubadebate, Cuba's state media outlet, showed cracked walls, piles of debris, and damaged infrastructure, particularly in the Granma Province. The municipality of Pilón was among the hardest hit, with significant destruction reported. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the Cuban National Seismological Service, took to Facebook to share his own difficulties, describing the complicated circumstances, limited communication, and damage experienced across the region.
Local residents described the quake as unusually powerful. Griselda Fernandez, an eastern Cuba resident, shared, “It was stronger than anything we’ve felt before. We’re used to tremors, but this was something else.”
The tremor was felt beyond Cuban borders, reaching the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, and Guantánamo—areas that had been struck by Hurricane Oscar just weeks earlier. Meanwhile, western Cuba is still reeling from Hurricane Rafael, which struck as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday, plunging much of the island into darkness yet again.
While the US National Tsunami Warning Center indicated no major tsunami threat, it did caution of a slight possibility of waves impacting coasts near the quake’s epicenter. There were no reports of the earthquake being felt in Havana; however, some shockwaves reached as far as southern Florida, where Miami residents reported swaying ceiling lights in high-rise buildings.
CNN correspondents Patrick Oppmann and Elisa Raffa contributed additional insights on the situation as Cuba faces significant recovery challenges in the wake of both natural and infrastructural upheaval.
